City Lights
by stjimmyjazz
Summary: A modern college Pirates fic. Will has been searching for real love as far back as he could remember. In addition to his longing for someone to share his life with, the must deal with life in New York. WE. Read 'n' review.
1. Chapter 1

No, I'm not procrastinating with my other story, how could you even think of that? No, I really wanted to try my hand at writing a modern Pirates fic just too see how it goes. I know that it's being done a bit more than usual right now, but I think I might have a few different ideas to entertain you all with.

Declaimer: nope, nadda, zilch.

A young man walked briskly down the sidewalk with his head held high as he avoided knocking into the people surrounding him. Even though it was early in the morning the streets were already filled with bustling traffic. Businessmen and college students alike shuffled along to their destinations.

Coming to a crosswalk, the young man peered both ways down the street and crossed quickly with a few other people who were not worried about crossing between signals. He looked down at his wristwatch and determined that he still had enough time to stop for coffee before class. He walked past the Starbuck's directly on the corner; he didn't have the money for that. Instead, he walked into a small restaurant. He ordered a large coffee and fished out a few bills from his duct tape wallet.

He walked down yet another block and came to the school. He flashed the aged security guard his student ID and walked up three flights of stairs to his first class. He climbed through the door into the amphitheater.

"Morning Mr. Turner," his teacher greeted with a friendly grin that reached his tired eyes. As tired as the man looked, his bright Hawaiian shirt was distracting enough to take away from the look.

"Mornin' Roy," Will replied as he clambered up to the second row. As interesting as Will's film history class was, it was horrible to have the class first thing on Thursday morning. Especially since Will's Wednesday night class generally ended at ten. It was difficult to sit in a pitch-black movie theater for hours on end when you've only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before.

Will Turner was in his _very _early twenties and a junior in college. He had living in New York City his entire life. He had lived with his father on the Lower East Side ever since Will's mother died when he was twelve. It was around that time when Will became interested in the arts. He felt that it was easier to express his emotions in a visual way rather than just talking about it. Will had been enamored with illustration and sculpture since then. However, it was in his sophomore year in high school when he fell in love with film.

When the time came for college selection, Will looked at many of the best schools in the country. Most of the schools accepted him right off due to his consistent grades as well as amazing references from his teachers. He finally decided on the School of Visual Arts. It was still right in the city, a good distance from many of the tourist locations, yet still in a refreshingly young area.

A boy and a girl flopped down right in the cramped seats next to Will.

"Hey, how you doing?" asked John. Will had met John the previous year in a screenwriting class and they remained good friends. It was at that point though when Roy Frumkes began his class.

For this week, Roy had decided on introducing the class to Western films. He began at first detailing the beginnings of these films. He added humorously that just about every one of the Western films ever made had a many innuendos in them that you would not normally identify unless you were looking for them. To illustrate his point, Roy showed the ending of _The Outlaw_ and was met with near constant laughter.

Will dragged out his notebook. He knew that they would all be assigned a paper to write for next week's class and would need some form of notes. The other problem with this class beside it's early time, was that you were expected to take notes in near total darkness. When Will looked back at a few of the first notes he had taken, the scribbles were almost indistinguishable as well as slanted in strange directions.

The one film that would be shown today was _The Searchers_ with John Wayne. Will grimaced; he didn't care for John Wayne all too much. When the two hour long movie was finally over, the lights switched on. No matter how many times it happened, Will was always blinded by the sudden change in lighting. He looked down at his watch; it was only one in the afternoon.

"Did ya' like it?" inquired Roy from the front of the room. He was met with mixed responses. It seems that many people didn't care for the Western genre either. But still there were a few that defended it. As horribly boring as Will found it, he knew the historical significance of the movie already; many other films were based off of it. Later directors also used the same location for their movies later on.

"Not everyone would like it," Roy finally said. He asked for a paper on the significance of the films they saw in class on later cinema just as Will had guessed. They were released from class early; Roy had to meet with a director.

Will retraced his steps from earlier that morning to return to his apartment. Well, it wasn't totally his. There would be no way Will could afford even the tiniest studio in the Gramercy Park area. Luckily, he had found another student who was looking for a roommate. That was how Will first encountered Jack Sparrow.

Like many other young adults in this area, Jack was striving to be an artist. He may not always have the dedication to get through school, but from what Will had seen, Jack was an amazing illustrator.

Will finally arrived back at their apartment on 28th Street and Lexington. He walked up the seven flights of stairs quickly; he was used to taking this trip a few times daily. When he came to the top landing, Will checked that the bike lock was still fastened safely and secured his bike to the obsolete roof ladder. Will pulled his keys out from pocket and unlocked the door, giving the handle a few violent shakes before it opened.

The apartment was tiny, but it was far better than dorming through the school. The main room was made up of a kitchen area as well as a small living room. The bedrooms lay on opposite sides of the apartment with a bathroom between them. A tiny office had been converted into a storage room for both of their things.

A loud snoring filled the apartment; Jack was still asleep. _'Lucky bastard,' _Will thought. Will was in fact quite jealous that all of Jack's classes were in the early evening. The previous year, Will had scheduled all of his classes at night so he could work a few days a week. This year however, all of the courses Will wanted to take were either in the early morning or at night.

Will was very happy with college life. He liked being on his own with classes that were actually interested with teachers who actually knew what they were doing. But there were still a few things that Will thought about in the back of his mind.

Will knew that his field was highly competitive. He also knew that all of the biggest film companies were out in Los Angeles. But Will had decided a while ago that he would rather die than go out to work in L.A. He valued many of the old artistic virtues such as suffering for your artwork. But it was all worth it in the end.

Another thing that had been bothering Will was his lack of relationships, or rather a relationship that was worth keeping. Since Will had met Jack, he had tried to hook Will up with several women. None of these really ever went past a six-digit phone number or a drunken one-night stand. In high school, Will had had a few girlfriends. They were all for the most part good, but it was just high school. Practically no high school dating was serious.

It's not like Will wanted to meet someone and immediately settle down with her, of course not. He was really too young to be thinking about marriage now anyway. If anything, Will was looking for someone who he liked and could have fun with outside the bedroom or bar.

Will's stomach growled angrily. He had not eaten since yesterday afternoon. Will was a testament to the idea of being a 'starving artist'. He pulled himself off of the couch slowly and rummaged for some kind of food. With the loud bang of one of the old cabinets, Jack wondered out of his room still half- asleep.

Jack was of medium height. His dark brown hair framed his face. A few dreadlocks poked out here and there. A scraggily goatee and the beginnings of a moustache were also present on his face. Although he was older than Will by about a year and a half, he was still some what immature for his age. Jack, in short, would rather be out partying than really figuring out what he wanted to do with himself. He tried to impart some of these values to Will, but with minimal success.

"What's for breakfast?" Jack questioned groggily. He poured himself a cup of stone-cold coffee from the day before and sat down at the table.

"More lunch than anything else," Will replied. Jack shrugged in indifference. Will pulled out a box of cereal. It was a few days passed the expiration date, but it would due.

"Cap'n Crunch," Will informed his friend. Will found a clean bowl and poured some of the sugary cereal into it. Leaning into the refrigerator, Will found some milk that had not expired yet. Will sat down at the table with Jack.

"Where' mine?" Jack asked with an accusatory tone.

"What am I? You're mother? Get it yourself," Will replied. He picked up last weeks copy of _The Onion_ and read through it once more. Jack got to his feet haphazardly and got himself a bowl of cereal.

"You sure this is all we have?" Jack asked. Will sighed.

"Yes, until one of us decides to go out shopping for more. Jack immediately perked up at this. It would be over his dead body that he would go shopping.

"Nose goes!" Jack shouted out suddenly, bringing his index finger to his nose with a sly smile. Will, as fast as his reflexes were, did not have a chance to beat his friend.

"You cheated," Will complained. "Besides, do we even have any money to get food with?" Jack grinned.

"Of course I do. I'm Jack Sparrow," he assured Will with a grin. As much as Will wanted to ask, he never came around to asking Jack what he did for money. Jack always suspiciously had a good deal of money on hand which was surprising since most of the time Jack was either sleeping or getting shit-faced.

Now more awake, Jack rose to his feet. "I think I might just go to class today," he commented.

"Dear God, it's the end of the world," Will muttered sarcastically.

"First time for everything, mate," Jack replied. As he turned to his bedroom, he remembered something mid-step. "By the way, mate," he said. "We're going out tonight." It wasn't a request, just a statement.

"Where to?" Will inquire immediately not even bothering to look up from his paper. It was probably a party.

"It's Ana Maria's birthday today," Jack continued.

"Ana Maria the sometimes girlfriend Ana Maria?" Will interrupted. Jack had many women who could fit that description that it was sometimes hard to keep them all in line.

"Yes actually," Jack said. "You're coming either way." Will considered this statement for a moment. He didn't have any morning classes tomorrow.

"Fine, where-"

"Splendid mate," Jack said immediately. "Just be back here at around ten tonight so we can collect you." Will nodded as Jack abandoned the room so he could get ready.

Maybe it's what Will needed. He hadn't been out to a party in a while, and it couldn't hurt to go tonight.

"Alright," Jack said coming out of the bathroom. "Jus' so you know, we're gonna go to Webster Hall tonight," Jack explained. Will was rather familiar with the massive club.

"Ana Maria's choice?" he inquired.

"Of course." Jack looked at the clock on the microwave. "Time for me to get going," he said as he sauntered out the door.

There's the first chapter. Be honest with what you thought of it. For the reference, just about every detail I add is carefully put in. I'm currently at the school Will is attending so I know the area and school pretty well.

Drop me a review okay? I'm going to try something and put it out there that if you have a suggestion, why not tell me about it, eh?

Cheers!

Jim


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: not mine!

Will finally pulled himself off of the threadbare couch at about six-thirty. Deciding that there would be no way he could weasel out of going, he padded into the bathroom. He quickly surveyed himself in the medicine cabinet mirror.

Will decided quickly on shaving off the stubble that had grown in the passed few days. He left the neat goatee and the moustache he was starting to grow. He scrubbed his teeth briskly before drenching his face in water. Running is hands through the messy mop of brown hair that covered his head, he decided against trying to run a comb through it. The 'just rolled out of bed' look seemed to work for Will. Sighing, he walked into his room to decide on what he could wear. Under the usual circumstance, Will wouldn't worry so much about what he wore to a party, but seeing as how he was going to a well-known club for a birthday party, he would have to consider the matter a bit more.

Finally, Will decided on a button-down shirt he hadn't worn in a while and he pulled out a pair of black slacks. With no other option, Will pulled on his ratty black Converses.

Just as he finished, Jack returned home from his class, clutching his portfolio case. He took in Will's appearance and nodded wordlessly. Jack barricaded himself in his room to get ready. He reappeared a while later, ready to leave.

"How many people are going to this party?" Will asked from behind the book he was reading.

"Not sure exactly how many," Jack informed him. "Probably more than expected will show up."

"Who's paying for this?"

"I dunno, but don't count on an open bar tonight, savvy?" Jack replied with a wink. From what Will understood about his friend, Jack thought of himself as a modern-day pirate. Some people never out grow childhood.

Will fished out his wallet. He extracted a few bills; he would need to stop at an ATM on the way.

The two men departed their apartment not too long afterwards. Jack briskly led Will down the street. They approached the subway.

"Oh, c'mon Jack, why are we taking the subway?" Will inquired. "It's a waste."

Jack glanced back at Will. "But I don't wanna walk," he whined. Jack could act oddly childish at times.

"It's only two stops away and we'd still have to walk a few blocks," Will tried to rationalize. Truth be told, Will needed to buy a new metro card but didn't have the money for it right now.

Will started off past the underground station and headed down 11th Avenue. Granted, walking did take much longer, but Will didn't mind. As much as Jack complained on the way, as soon as they were in the club and Jack had a few drinks, he will have totally forgotten walking.

Once they finally got to the cub, Will looked up at the imposing structure and the long line of people awaiting admission.

"If I had known we had to wait in line, maybe we should have taken the subway," Will told Jack sheepishly. Jack laughed at his friend.

"No, no, we don't have to worry about it mate!" Jack said as he pulled two paper tickets from his back pocket. "Remember? Ana Maria took care of it!" He handed Will one of the VIP tickets.

"You serious? How did Ana afford these?" Will asked in astonishment. Jack continued laughing as they walked up to the bouncer at the door.

"She got a new, rich boyfriend I think. Either that or she met someone with connections." Will shrugged and didn't ask for any more information. Once they were in, it didn't matter.

Blaring music from the four dance floors mixed together at the main entrance. The entire building seemed to pulsate to the beat of the various beats being produced. As Jack led him upstairs, Will tried to catch a glance of the patrons inside, but to no avail.

They made it finally to the third floor and entered one of the side doors where Ana's party was being held. From the look of all the chairs inside, she had invited quiet a few people.

Ana Maria almost immediately greeted them. Even though she and Jack had ended their relationship a while ago, they were still on generally good terms. She smiled politely at Will before leaving.

Jack immediately made a beeline to the bar. As it turned out, there was an open bar. Shit, he'll be completely shit-faced in no time, Will couldn't help but think. What the hell, it wasn't his problem right now. Will followed Jack to the bar and met a few other people Will had met through Jack.

The bartender finally approached Will and asked him what he wanted. Considering it for a moment, Will told the bartender to make him anything. Though it might not have been the most polite thing for Will to say, the bartender went on to mix a simple drink for Will.

Peering down at the orange drink in the highball glass, Will took a sip of it to test it out. He immediately tasted the sharpness of vodka as well as a tinge of orange flavor.

"What is this?" he inquired.

"Drivescrewer," the bartender told him immediately with a grin. "Much stronger version of a Screwdriver." Will shrugged and left a tip on the bar. He turned around to the other partiers who were not out dancing. In truth, Will didn't feel much like dancing. What people did now a days wasn't so much as dancing, but grinding up against others in a highly sexual manner. The guy next to him also seemed to have the same feelings about this party. The two of them eventually were engaged in an on-and-off conversation.

All of a sudden a bunch of people entered all at once. From their red-faced appearances, they had been out dancing for a prolonged period of time. Will caught the eye of one of the women in the group and flashed a small smile.

She was really quite attractive. By chance, she approached the bar and stood next to Will. Will gestured to the bartender and order himself two shots of vodka. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he tried to come up with a way to start talking with her. Of course he could use some kind of clichéd pick up line, but he always ended laughing at the ridiculousness of them.

When the bartender brought Will his shots and the woman her drinks, he left. Will caught her eye and smiled again. This time, she returned his grin. She had to be about Will's age. It wasn't that he was scrutinizing her looks, but she seemed to be just around twenty-one. He watched her as she picked up her beer, took a sip and then placed it next to the cocktail she had ordered.

"Hey, wait a sec," Will interrupted her. "You can't drink like that." She shot him a very confused look right away. She must not normally drink.

"What do you mean?" she inquired when Will didn't explain right away.

"Oh, well, you always drink liquor before any beer. If you don't you'll be sick, guaranteed."

"How do you know that?" she asked. "Personal experience?"

"No, no, it's just there's a little rhyme you have to go by when you drink. It's just one I learned in high school and stuck to it. Never go sick," Will continue. His face was becoming progressively redder and redder. This is not exactly how he had intended to start a conversation with her.

"Oh?" she continued. "What is it?"

Will laughed. This was horribly embarrassing for him; he didn't want to come off as an alcoholic.

"Beer before liquor, you're getting sicker. Liquor before beer, you're in the clear," Will recited to her. She laughed. To Will, her laugh was musical and enchanting. He smiled.

"Does it really work?" she asked with an entertained smile. Will nodded.

"I'm Will by the way."

"Elizabeth," she replied after a momentary pause.

"Well Elizabeth, it's nice too meet you," Will said as he turn to his second shot glass. He downed the glass quickly.

Elizabeth abandoned her beer for the moment and looked at the shot she had requested. Mimicking Will's actions, she tossed back her drink and immediately gagged at its sharp bite.

"Takes a while to get used to. I'd say you should get some kind of chaser for that," Will told her as she still had a sickened look on her face from the vodka's taste. She turned to her beer right away.

"I'll be staying off of hard liquor, for now," she replied breathlessly. Will smiled down at her.

Will and Elizabeth continued talking at the bar for sometime. She was twenty-one years old as of last week and was a student at New York University. She lived on the Upper East Side with her parents. Will had informed her a bit about himself. Their conversation was comfortable and friendly.

After a while, a short lull descended on their talk. "Will?" Elizabeth addressed him. "Would you like to go out dancing with me?" she smiled up at him.

Will studdered an almost incomprehensible response. "C'mon Will! Please?" she pleaded. She tugged on his hand in the direction of the exit. Secretly, Will couldn't help but feel a certain amount of comfort in the contact they had. Reluctantly, he allowed Elizabeth to pull him into on of the dance halls.

The music in her was some kind of techno beat. The mass of people had become, one dark wave pulsating to the beat of the music. The air in here was hot and humid. Elizabeth practically dragged Will right into the middle of the floor. She immediately began adapting her movements to the DJ's music. Will, feeling out of place, looked around to the people near him and tried to replicate their own movements. Usually, it took quite a few more drinks in his system to be brought out on a dance floor and at that point, he wasn't sober enough to know what he was doing.

Soon, Elizabeth came right up to him and worked herself into his arms and they began to dance together. Sweat accumulated on Will's brow quickly. Despite the discomfort of the room, it soon became just another passing thought.

Will had no idea how long they were out in the crowd. Elizabeth eventually caught his attention and they dislodged themselves from the mass of people.

Glancing down at his watch, Will found that it was already three in the morning. Elizabeth seemed to have take note of that also.

"I think I may get going kind of soon," she informed Will. He was somewhat sad to see her go.

"Are you going to get the subway home?" he asked. She nodded. "I'm not trying to be a creepy stalker or anything, but would you like me to bring you home?" Everyone knew that riding the subway alone late at night was dangerous. Not trying to be sexist or anything, Will knew that it was even more dangerous for a young woman like Elizabeth.

She surveyed him for a moment. She smiled. "I'd like that actually."

Together, they exited the nightclub and walked down the street towards the subway station Will had refused to take earlier. He quickly extracted four dollars from his wallet and bought a metro card for tonight.

Will and Elizabeth stood on the platform in anticipation for their train. Being late at night, the train service took much longer.

"So, what's your exact major?" Elizabeth asked Will after a bit.

"Film," he replied simply. Already he felt that some elaboration was not needed between them. "What about you?"

Elizabeth grinned sheepishly. "Acting," she told him. He perked up at her statement. "I've always liked the idea of becoming someone else, you know?" Will nodded in agreement. In truth, acting was something he enjoyed also, but he always felt he was better off behind the camera rather than in front. Elizabeth on the other hand, had all the perfect qualities of an actor.

It was at that moment the subway train pulled up to the near empty platform and pulled to a screeching halt. They boarded the empty car and sat down next to each other.

"Why did you choose film?" Elizabeth asked. Will shrugged for a moment.

"I dunno, it's always been something that has interested me. I have a lotta reasons for it I guess," Will explained. "I almost went to NYU," Will blurted out before he thought about it.

"Why didn't you? NYU has a fantastic program," Elizabeth asked. She seemed to really enjoy her school.

"I just didn't like it as much. That and it's getting pretty fuckin' expensive to go there now a days," Will laughed. Mentally, he hoped that Elizabeth would find no insult in his words. She nodded.

The doors of the car opened up to the next platform. They exited the station and strolled outside. Once outside, Will pulled out a cigarette and his lighter.

"Oh, sorry, do you mind?" he asked Elizabeth. Despite her disapproving glance, she shook her head no. Will took several quick drags before dropping it on the sidewalk.

"You do know that's bad for you, right?" Elizabeth asked unnecessarily.

"Yes, yes, I know," Will responded with a sigh. He'd have to limit his habit when Elizabeth was around.

Elizabeth led their way up the street. Will marveled at the massive apartment buildings that lined the street. He knew right away that Elizabeth came from money. All of the apartments around here had some kind of view of Central Park and from what Will heard, the apartments were more spacious.

Elizabeth came to her building finally. The doorman nodded at her in a highly respectful manner. She glanced back at Will who seemed lost in the magnificence of the entrance.

"Would you like to come up Will?" she asked with a smile. This was very forward of her to invite someone she just met into her house, but for some reason she could trust him. He looked at her hesitantly.

"Um, I dunno, I mean, I wouldn't want to impose on you," Will stuttered, his ears turning red in nervousness.

Elizabeth smiled at his bashfulness. She took his hand in her own and practically dragged him into the elevator. "Please, I insist! It's too late for you to be going home on your own!"

Will grinned, but did not protest.

Heh, deep down I know I'm a dork. But whatever. Not gonna lie, this is really entertaining for me to write. Oh! I've gots a fun idea! Drop me a request or something when you give me a review okay? I promise I'll get them all in. So review for me!

Cheers!


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, I thought I would get an update out sooner, but then Harry Potter came out. How could I resist the allure of a new book? I'm still not sure about the ending, but it was good overall.

Thank you to all my reviewers for givin' me some input. Keep at it :P

Disclaimer: I got nothing

Having reached the topmost floor, Elizabeth led Will out of the elevator. They were now in a small, yet ornate, hallway. It wasn't so much a hallways as a decorated room that had Elizabeth's front door and the elevator.

Elizabeth shuffled through her purse quickly and extracted her keys. With the door unlocked, she motioned for Will to follow her inside. Yet again, Will hesitated before following.

The apartment was currently dark. Once Elizabeth switched on the lights, Will could see the true extravagance that money could buy. The main room was a mix of a living room, kitchen and entry way, not unlike Will's own apartment. Unlike Will's apartment, Elizabeth's was at least four, maybe five, times bigger. Massive windows pointed to the south and the west, revealing the twinkling lights of downtown as well as the dark mass of trees coming from Central Park. The furniture that was in the apartment looked new, and had a highly dignified look to it. Next to the front door was a tight staircase that lead to an upper floor.

"Nice place," Will told her, still in awe. Elizabeth chuckled at him.

"What's you're place like then?" she asked. Elizabeth walked into the kitchen area and began making herself and Will coffee. He walked over to where she was busy and sat down at the table.

"Nothing like this. Tiny. But I have one thing that this building doesn't," Will teased.

"Oh yes?" Elizabeth replied, catching the humorous tone in his voice. "What would that be?"

"A fire escape," Will revealed, a smile developing on his face. Truth be told, Will loved his fire escape; he sometimes sat for hours outside on it sometimes just doing nothing. "You'll have to see it sometime," Will continued, his smile turning more sheepish than humorous.

Elizabeth sat down next to Will, passing him some coffee. She offered him milk and sugar, but he refused right off. They discussed a few things back and forth for a while. Their conversation was comfortable and friendly. Will entertained himself with the idea of doing this with her more often. He stopped himself from thinking too much about starting anything with Elizabeth. He did just meet here.

I was about five in the morning when Elizabeth accidentally let loose a tired yawn. It was only then when Will really noticed how tired he was also.

"I should probably get going," he said, gazing outside. The sky outside was steadily becoming grey in the pre-dawn hours.

"Why don't you sleep here?" Elizabeth offered immediately. Will considered the prospect of staying with Elizabeth tonight. Finally, he nodded his head quickly. Elizabeth sprung to her feet the moment he agreed and clasped her hand in his. Elizabeth led them to the top of the stairwell to where the bedrooms where located.

Will was brought into the guest bedroom. Had he not been in the exhausted state he was in currently, he would have a mind to look around the room that put his own bedroom at shame.

Elizabeth pointed out where the bathroom was and where extra blankets were kept. She exited the room for a moment, leaving Will to himself. He stripped down to his bower shorts and the white undershirt he had on. Pulling back the covers of the bed, Will got ready to flop down into the lush, white sheets.

Elizabeth stood at the doorframe for a moment before Will noticed her presence. He smiled back at her. He hadn't smiled this much in one night with any girl for a long time.

"Good night," Elizabeth said tiredly. Will drifted over to her as he also bade her goodnight. They embraced momentarily in a friendly hug. Smiling, Elizabeth exited the room.

As soon as he heard Elizabeth's door click shut, Will turned off the lights and collapsed into the bed.

Will was brought back to consciousness by the smell of bacon wafting across the apartment. He ambled into the kitchen, not expecting anything. Elizabeth turned to greet Will. She was surprisingly perky in the morning.

"Good morning!" she greeted, flashing a pearly white grin as she lowered a cup of coffee in front of Will.

"G'morning," Will responded, trying as hard as he could to sound awake. "What time is it?" he asked. Elizabeth glanced down at the digital clock on the stove.

"Just about two- thirty," Elizabeth replied, still cooking. "You're quite the sound sleeper," she added. Will grinned up at her, an apologetic look in his eyes.

"Sorry, I'll get going if you want me to," Will offered. In response, Elizabeth set down two plates loaded with eggs and bacon. "You didn't have to-"

"It was my pleasure," Elizabeth interrupted, sitting down next to Will. "Are you doing anything today Will?" she asked after a moment. Will considered this. He had a class tonight, but what the hell, he could afford to miss this one.

"Nothing at all," Will lied. "Would you want to do something later?" Elizabeth's answer came immediately

"Of course, I'd love to." Will grinned foolishly; he'd been doing this a lot lately. In truth though, he didn't mind.

"What would you want to do?" Will inquired. With such a sudden reply, Elizabeth must have had something in mind. She considered his question for a moment.

"Well, I guess it depends. Do you have anything interesting in your area?" she questioned. Will shrugged.

"We can find something to do," Will decided. Elizabeth nodded in agreement.

"I'm going to get dressed quickly then. Could you just stick these plates in the sink?" Elizabeth said. He nodded his head 'yes' quickly. She departed back into her room, leaving Will alone. He gathered up the plates and startles to clean them. Not wanting to tamper with the organization of the plates, Will left the clean dishes in the drainer next to the sink.

Will walked back into the room he had slept in last night. He tried to remake the bed that he had slept in, but he was unable to restore it back to the perfect order it had been in. Giving up, he pulled on the clothing he had worn the previous night. He put on his watch and peered into the mirror. He ran a hand through his tussled hair and fiddled with the gold earring in his left lobe. As unwelcome as it was when it was first forced on it, the little gold earring had been growing on him as of late. Will exited the room and met with Elizabeth back in the main room.

"You didn't have to do the dishes Will," she told him.

"It was my pleasure," he responded with a shrug. She gave a word of thanks and ushered him out the door, locking it behind her. They then caught the elevator downstairs.

They retraced their steps from last night to the subway. Along the way, Will tried to resist his urge for nicotine. At first, he began to chew on his fingernails, another old habit of his. Whether she saw his fidgeting or not, Elizabeth took his hand into her own. Will smiled back over to her. He could quit that habit if she didn't like it. It'd be easy.

They walked down into the subway and located a train that would take them to Will's area.

"Do you mind if we stop over at my place for a moment? I need to change quickly," Will asked.

"Of course we can. I told you that's I'd like to see your place anyway," she agreed. Will grinned once again, looking down at their hands, which were still intertwined.

That's the end of this chapter. Tell me what you think all right? Feel free to leave me any kinda suggestions or even a request of some kind. I'm open to just about anything. Oh, and don't worry, of course I'll be putting more Jack in. so, review mkay?

Cheers

jimmy


	4. Chapter 4

I'll bet you all thought I died. Well, no I've just been ridiculously busy since last week. But onwards we go! I don't own anything. Once again, thank you to my reviewers:

Girlz-Rule: Glad you always seem to like my chapters, I try :P and of course, here's another bit!

Smithy: Really? –looks it up- Well slap me thrice and hand me to my momma. (that was uncalled for, sorry). I guess you're right. I had not intended that for it to be the case; it more or less takes from my own habit. As a general rule of thumb in most colleges, film students especially share this nasty habit as ive found. The nail biting thing is something I do when im feeling needy.

Klcxthexpirate: haha, there are so many things that Jack can be used for. I can see how it can easily be pictured for Jack to behave as so. Deathly Hallow was cool, and I don't know what to do with myself now. Oh, and you flatter me far too much. It all goes right to my head :P and trust me, that's not good for a lad my age.

Will hobbled down his street with Elizabeth in tow. He found out quickly that she was more comfortable in her Upper East Side neighborhood rather than the crowded, dirty streets where Will lived. He could change that easily in time.

Elizabeth was a bit taken aback by the dingy doorway that led up to Will's apartment. He closed and locked the front door behind him and brought her up the staircase. After a few flights up, her inhaling came at a more and more rapid pace.

"How many times do you do this a day?" she wheezed.

"Generally about three or four time going up," Will told her. "And that's saying a lot with my lungs!" he added. An annoyed look crossed her face and Will silently berated himself for bringing up his habit.

They finally reached the top floor of the dilapidated staircase. Will quickly checked his bicycle and unlocked the door. The apartment was dark and seemed to be empty. Will shut the door a bit louder than he intended and was immediately greeted by a moan from the couch.

" Izzat you Whelp?" Jack mumbled from the couch using the nickname that Will hated most of all.

"Yeah, Jack, it's me," Will confirmed, leaving the apartment in semi-darkness. As much as Elizabeth tried, she could not keep the floorboards from squeaking underneath her feet. Jack continued his moaning and groaning at the infuriating sounds. Pissed, Jack sat up and clutched his head in his hands.

"Where'd ya go last night Will?" Jack asked. He had not yet realized Elizabeth's presence.

"I met someone at the party. I stayed at her place last night," Will explained, giving out as minimal details as he could. Jack became alert at this comment.

"Oh yeah?" Jack urged, a grin cracking and plastering itself on his face. "Didja get lucky then?" Will turned a deep shade of scarlet, knowing full well that Jack had yet to figure out Elizabeth was here. The last thing he wanted to do was put her in an awkward situation.

Elizabeth cleared her throat innocently and Jack's attention was immediately brought to her. "Well, hello there dearie," Jack welcomed coyly.

"Elizabeth, this is my roommate: Jack," Will introduced. Elizabeth gave a highly reserved smile; she didn't know exactly how to interpret Jack.

"Well then Elizabeth, have I got a few stories about our dear William! Why just the other day, he came home from a bar, and-"

"Jack!" Will interrupted. "You _must_ have a splitting headache. I just bought some more aspirin. You should really get some," Will covered up before Jack could continue. Fortunately, Will knew that Jack had a pretty limited attention span. Jack stood from the couch and ambled into the bathroom with distracted agreements.

Elizabeth giggled softly at their exchange. She looked over at Will whose face was still flushed red with embarrassment. So much for his attempts to keep the conversation from being awkward.

"I'm going to get changed really fast," Will announced to her after a moment. "Make yourself at home," he added as he closed his bedroom door.

Elizabeth gazed around the miniscule apartment. Despite the tiny size, it still suited the two men well. Old band posters adorned the wall along with a few framed illustrations. The space was cluttered with their personal projects and plates were stacked haphazardly in the sink. In short, it looked like an artist's workspace.

She wondered over to where Will's room was and waited for him. When he came out, he leapt backwards in surprise. She peered around him and caught a glance of Will's room. Like the rest of the apartment, it was cramped and every space was utilized. The book shelves were packed with all kinds of books, the desk supported a Macintosh computer, with an aged laptop next to it. The small bed was jammed up against the wall, screenplays and storyboards obscuring the sheets. A banged up guitar case lay in the corner and an old, spring-loaded film camera sat on the nightstand.

As Will exited, he shut the door quietly behind him. "Can I get you anything?" he offered. Elizabeth shook her head in polite refusal. "Come 'ere," Will prompted, opening up one of the windows wide. He stepped out onto the fire escape and was joined shortly by Elizabeth.

"So it is here," she joked.

"Would I lie to you?" Will replied right back. He settled down on the rusting metal, allowing his legs t dangle off the side. Elizabeth sat down right next to him, their bodies touching due to the limited space. "What would you like to do this afternoon?" Will inquired. He drummed his fingers against the cool railing, keeping his actions in check. This was one of this favorite places to light up, but he wouldn't do it now, not with Elizabeth around. She seemed to whole-heartedly detest his habit. Maybe she had lost someone to the sickness that smoking brought? Regardless, Will would not bring up her hatred for it, but only respect her unspoken wishes.

"I don't know," she admitted. Will put some thought into it.

"We could walk down to Union Square. There's a bit of a park down there and they may have a farmer's market today. That may be fun," Will thought out loud. Considering it for a moment, Elizabeth nodded in agreement. "Let's go then!" he said, springing to his feet, helping Elizabeth back through the window and locking it behind them.

They rushed down the stairwell quickly, each trying not too loose their balance as they worked their way down the rickety steps. At the bottom, they stopped for a moment to allow the dizzy after effect to pass. Walking out onto the street, they walked down the sidewalk at an easy pace. There were only a few other people on the sidewalk along with them, so Will and Elizabeth were not obligated to rush down the New York sidewalks.

Either unconsciously or not, Elizabeth again grasped Will's hand and held onto it. He grinned stupidly when their eyes locked. There was no way he could pass up starting a new relationship with Elizabeth. It was a completely new feeling when he was with her; it was unlike any other relationship Will had been in up to this point. Something like this could actually lead somewhere.

There was indeed a farmer's market in Union Square Park. Will and Elizabeth maneuvered their way around the busy market and eventually sat together on a bench nearby.

"Is there something else you'd want to do?" Will asked her.

"No, no, this is nice," Elizabeth replied sincerely. Will glanced down at his watch. It was about five in the afternoon. The park was starting to fill up with people getting off of work and school. "What are you going to do tonight?" Elizabeth continued.

"I was going to start finish up my end of the year film. Unless you'd like to go out with me or something," Will admitted.

"Go out as in a date?" Elizabeth pushed him.

"If you'd like," Will tested. He bit down on his lower lip tensely, waiting for her answer. What's the worse that could happen? Will admitted to himself that he liked Elizabeth. There was no doubting that. When Elizabeth did not immediately respond, Will began to stutter an excuse. "I mean, well, if you think that, I dunno, it's be too soon to do any of that, well then, I-" Will was cut off by Elizabeth's laughter.

"You're adorable when you squirm," she informed him, a playful look on her face. "And yes, I'd love to go out with you tonight."

Will grinned at her reply. He stood up right away, his hand still holding onto Elizabeth's firmly. "Well, then let's go! We can go out to an early dinner or something! I know a few good places around here," Will exclaimed excitedly. Elizabeth stood to stand up next to him.

"Lead the way then Mister Turner," she told him. Tentatively, Will snuck his arm across Elizabeth's shoulders. When she did not protest their close proximity, Will lead them out of the park.

Okay, here's the latest chapter. I think I've generally decided on the basic plot. Challenge me okay? Tell me to do something in this story that would make it more interesting for you :P So, drop me a review alright, I feed off of them.

Cheers

jim


	5. Chapter 5

With Elizabeth following, Will made his way through the crowd and ducked down to the downtown subway. He cast an apologetic look at Elizabeth when he went to refill his metro card again. He unwillingly parted with the last twenty-dollar bill he had in his wallet; he'd have to pay for dinner with a credit card. He cringed at the thought.

The train rumbled down the tracts distantly and pulled to a screeching halt in front of the platform. In the rush hour traffic, the train was packed with people returning home. Will and Elizabeth wedged themselves into the tight space, their bodies pushed up together with each other and the people around them.

"Where are you going to be taking me tonight?" Elizabeth asked Will over the wave of sound that filled the car.

"Just a place that I know of. It's not that far from here really. The owner is a family friend, so I know the food will always be good," Will replied with a wink. At that moment the subway pitched the patrons backwards and forwards quickly, causing several people, Elizabeth included, to stumble. Despite her grip on the handrail, Elizabeth fell directly into Will. "You alright?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"Fine, thanks," she assured. The subway stopped at a few stops along the way, each time a rush of people exited the train. Soon, Elizabeth worked her way over to seat, only to be pulled up by Will at the Canal Street stop.

The stairwell deposited the couple onto a dingy, yet busy street. Elizabeth did not know exactly where she was. Turning to Will, she inquired as to exactly where they were.

"Well, right now we're on the outskirts of Chinatown," Will explained. Elizabeth tensed at the news.

"I've never been to Chinatown before," she admitted to him somewhat ashamed. Will grinned at this statement.

"All the better!" he exclaimed. "Might as well make your time memorable," he said. At the same time, he shook his head. "I can't believe you've never been down here!"

Elizabeth tried to come up with an excuse, but simply could not find a reason for her never venturing down here. "I've just never had the time," she tried to pass off.

"How long have you been living in New York?" Will pressed. He was now leading them down yet another side street. The streets were packed with cars. Elizabeth marveled at Will's ability to maneuver his way through such a dense crowd.

"Only a couple of years," Elizabeth told him. She glanced up at the short, tightly packed buildings on either side of the street. Banners written in primarily Chinese adorned every store front, most not explaining the exact purpose of the store.

"Where did you live before then?" Will proceeded.

"Connecticut," Elizabeth informed him, her head bowed. It was almost a dead give away that she really did come from good money. From what she understood of Will so far, he really didn't possess a lot of money. But that didn't really matter, did it?

Will laughed. "Connecticut? Shit! No wonder you have such a nice apartment! Anyone who can afford a place in Connecticut can easily get a place here, right?"

Elizabeth remained quiet for a while. It didn't seem like Will was all too jealous of her, but he knew that she would have a more generous upbringing in Connecticut than he did living in New York City.

Luckily, Will stopped at one of the restaurants on this street and pulled Elizabeth inside, ending their awkward conversation. Looking for the name of the restaurant, she peered upwards and saw the red sign with the simple name of 'Ping's' placed on it.

They passed by the wall of fish and crabs on their way up the stairs. They didn't need to stand at the top of the stairs long for the waiter standing their immediately recognized Will and led them over to a small table in the back. They were presented with a couple of menus written, much to Elizabeth's dismay, in Chinese.

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of the ordering," Will replied when he took note of her crestfallen look. They didn't have to wait long before their waiter approached them. The man seemed to know Will pretty well. With the ordering taken care of, the waiter spoke to Will briefly in broken English. Elizabeth cast a nervous glance around the crowded restaurant. Just about every table was filled causing the confined space to be filled with the dull roar of people speaking. From what she could hear, it was primarily in Chinese.

"I didn't mean to monopolize dinner, but these waiters really don't speak much English at all," Will apologized.

"It's probably better that way," Elizabeth said. "I've never actually had Chinese food," she added bashfully. Will was almost struck dumb. "Don't make me feel worse," she finished with an embarrassed smile.

"Really?" Will asked. She nodded her head, confirming the fact. "Well, there's no better place to have your first Chinese meal than here in my opinion," Will decided. He picked up his chopsticks and deafly picked at the little plate of peanuts on the table. Elizabeth eyed her own pair warily. She picked them up in her hand and tried to replicate Will's actions. Will took note of her struggle and moved to sit next to her. "Lemme help," he offered.

Will slid his arm around Elizabeth to give himself better access to her hand. "You just wanna hold his one _here_," he began, placing the stick in her hand. "Yeah, like kinda wedged between your ring and middle fingers. And grab this one with your index and thumb. There," Will tried to explain as he showed her exactly how to use the chopsticks. "Now move the top one up and down to grab, that one stays stationary," Will continued pointing to each one. Elizabeth moved the chopsticks tentatively. One fell onto the table with a soft clatter. "You'll get the hang of it quickly," Will finished returning to his seat. Not to be defeated by a set of wooden sticks, Elizabeth practiced the motion on the little peanuts.

A set of waiters returned to their table and set down a couple of small soup bowls and ladle-like spoons. "Fortunately, you don't need chopsticks for soup," Will added trying to bring a smile to Elizabeth's face. He did succeed in that; a tiny grin turned the corners of her mouth upwards. The waiters set down a large melon on the table; the inside was carved out and filled with broth and other foods swimming inside.

"Go on and try it," Will prompted. Elizabeth brought a spoonful of the soup to her mouth and eagerly sucked it in. The soup vaguely reminded her of chicken broth, but there was much more too it. Something that had a hint of fish to it. She was unable to come up with a way to describe it, but ended up having a couple of small bowls full.

"So Will, you're a filmmaker," Elizabeth stated teasingly.

"Yes I am," he responded, a hint of a proud tone to his voice.

"Are you going to show me anything you've made?" Elizabeth inquired right away. A tinge of a blush worked its way from Will's ears to his face.

"You wouldn't want to see any of my shit," Will told her flustered.

"Quite the contrary," Elizabeth rebuked. "I'd love to see it! And I highly doubt anything you made is 'shit'." Now she was just flattering him; feeding his ego slowly and surely.

"Alright, I guess you could if you really wanted to," Will agreed. Will was saved from agreeing to anything else with the arrival of the waiters once again. This time, a scraggily looking duck on a platter was brought over. Elizabeth had seen a few of these ducks hanging in storefronts on the way over. "This is Peking duck," Will told her. "There's almost no meat on them, but the skin is to die for," he continued. With almost all of the skin cut off of the duck, the waiter promptly served the couple. Putting the duck on a sauce covered pancake, he added cucumber and a couple of sprigs of scallions. He presented it to Elizabeth. Following Will, she folded it over and took a bit off of the toco-like creation.

"How did you come across your roommate Jack?" Elizabeth inquired. Will laughed.

"It's actually kind of weird. I had never met him before, but I just came across the news he was looking for a roommate. I said 'Why the fuck not?' and met him. You can only imagine my shock," Will chuckled.

"Oh yeah?"

"Living with Jack is like living with a little kid who is legally allowed to drink. The guy's absolutely brilliant, but would much rather party than actually work." Elizabeth chuckled at Will's explanation.

"I know the feeling," Elizabeth agreed. "A few of my friends in high school were a bit like that. Except they banked more on their parent's money to get them into high school and didn't bother working."

"Back in Connecticut?" Will asked.

"Yes, in Connecticut."

"What's it like livin' out in the country? Oh, is it true that just about every high schooler in Fairfield Country is an alcoholic?" Will asked, his eyes shining brightly in excitement. Will had always lived in a city environment and the concept of having a yard bigger than a few feet across was a complete alien idea to him.

"Well, living there gets boring easily. At least where I lived it was. There really is nothing for teenagers to do in my town, but contrary to the obvious belief, not _every_ teenager is an alcoholic," Elizabeth explained for him.

"Do you still have a place out there?" Will asked. It seemed idiotic to use the phrase 'out there' for a location that was less than a hundred miles away, but Connecticut was an entirely different world when compared to New York City.

"Well, yes," Elizabeth replied a bit flustered. "My parents live mostly in the Connecticut house, but Daddy comes to live in the apartment when he comes here for work."

"Didja leave cause it just got too boring there?" Will asked even though he seemed to know the answer already. Elizabeth nodded in reply.

"Horribly boring. Although, it is nice to go out there every once in a while to clear the mind," Elizabeth informed him as she attempted to eat her fried rice with her chopsticks. "You should come out with me sometime," Elizabeth offered offhandedly.

Will nodded. "It would be interesting to say the least." Their conversation died for a quick moment.

"So why acting?" Will asked in an attempt to stir up a new conversation. Elizabeth started thoughtfully into the now stone-cold tea in front of her.

"Well, it's just an interesting thing to do. I grew up taking dance lessons and I like to sing sometimes. So when I got to high school, there were just a handful of things that the school really put an interest in. I didn't really want anything to do with the sports programs, but the theatre one was one of the most developed things there. So I decided why not try it, you know? And I liked it." Will nodded in understanding.

A booming voice called their attention from across the room. "William!" called the familiar voice. Will turned in his seat to find Jack Sparrow making hi way to their table and plopping himself down in an empty seat. "Fancy meeting you here!" he said, a mischievous smile glued to his face.

"Well Jack, if I had known you would show up, maybe we should have gone somewhere else," Will countered, a playful attitude evident in his words.

It was just then the headwaiter returned to the table. He caught one look at Jack before roughly pulling Jack to his feet and nudging him unceremoniously out of the restaurant all the while speaking in furious tones. "Eh! Will, bring me home a leftover or two will ya?" Jack called back over his shoulder. Will was progressively turning redder and redder as people turned their attention for the boisterous man being pushed out to his friends.

Will turned back to Elizabeth, chuckling nervously. "Of course, we're in a massive city and Jack always seems to conveniently run into me."

"What was that all about?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well, Jack was the one who brought me here first. But apparently he has a way of weaseling out of paying bills sometimes," Will told her. "It's had him banned from more restaurants and bars then one can count. But he never stops trying to get back in!" Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh at the story of Jack antics. When the disgruntled waiter came over once more, he set the bill down on the table. Will slid it over to himself, scanned it quickly and pulled out one of his credit cards. As much as it killed him to out himself in more and more debt, this was one occasion where it didn't bother him at all.

"Can I pay you back or something?" Elizabeth asked quietly. She had noticed his brief grimaced when Will pulled out his credit card, and thought it would at least be polite to offer.

"Not a chance," Will said. With the return of the card, the two of them left the restaurant. "How'd you like Chinese food?" Will asked a bit nervously. Granted, when he brought her here, he had expected Elizabeth to have tried Chinese before and was shocked that she never had it before. Only now was he worried that maybe she didn't like it.

"I loved it actually," Elizabeth smiled up at him. "Thank you Will."

"You're welcome. We'll have to go again sometime." He glanced down at his watch. It was still early at only eight in the evening. Elizabeth seemed to also notice that it was still relatively early.

"Well Will, we still have quite a bit of time, don't you think?" Elizabeth said.

"Agreed. What would you like to do tonight?" Elizabeth thought for only a moment.

"I'm not sure I'd want to go out to a bar or anything since that's what we did last night," she thought out loud. Will nodded in agreement. Personally, he was still kind of tired from Ana Maria's party the night before.

"You want to see a movie or something?" Will offered. He wasn't exactly sure of what was playing right now, not having been to see a new movie in a few months.

"I'd like to see your movies," Elizabeth told him, a sly smile forming across her lips.

"No, no, my stuff is all shit. It's not worth it," Will tried to convince her. He knew that he was failing miserably when her expression did not change. "Fine. We'll go back and I can suffer through watching them again."

The smile on Elizabeth's face persisted as she led a seemingly unwilling Will Turner back to the subway.

And that's the end of yet another chapter. This one has been done for a while, but I just got lazy and forgot to post it until now. Forgive my lazy ass and drop me a line.

Pirategal101: thank you for trying this out, I had wanted to hop on the 'WE modern fic' bandwagon for sometime now, and heck, this was the opportune moment. Glad you like it and I hope you stick with it.

Smithy: ya know, I guess it just works out that way. Aint irony a funny lil' bitch sometimes? But you know, I think it works. i think ive lowered the rating for now until some devious little idea lodges itself in my head until I get it out. Let's just say it may not be the final rating. :P

Klcxthexpirate: I'll be on my toes, but let's just hope I don't screw up enough to get a 'blow to my ego' review. And trust me, even the vague, 'it's good' reviews do me wonders. Haha.

Girlz-rule: Christ, you've stuck this out with me for a while. I hope I keep your expectations high okay?

Shani8: I hope their first date worked out. I think the informality of their first one does justice and I couldn't resist nudging jack in for a moment. i do have a few ideas for him that I plan to push in later on so keep watching for him! And I do know that the idea of a smoking will doesn't seem to fit him, but I have my reasons for him doing so. Just you wait and see :P

Williz: thank you! I really like to hear that you do like my story, and I hope you do check back in every so often. Not gonna lie, these modern ones are fun to write.

Araminta Ditch: I adore farmers markets. Theyre so much fun, and the ones in union square are probably my favorite.

EpisodeSkywalker: thank you for reviewing, and ill have another chappy up soon!


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry about the delay, but I did have a generally hard time with this chapter. Not only did I have an impossible time of motivating myself to actually update, but also the actual writing of it. On a lighter note though, I don't think I should have _as_ much of a problem for a while. But, enjoy.

Once again, Will and Elizabeth scaled the rickety staircase up to Will's apartment. Thankfully, Jack was not present in the apartment right now. It wasn't that Jack wasn't welcome to watch with them, but his almost constant state of inebriation caused him to make unwanted comments every once in a while.

Will forced the heavy door closed, leaving him and Elizabeth inside. Elizabeth immediately took a place on the couch. "Can I get you a beer or something?" Will asked from his position leaning at the door.

"Water is just fine," Elizabeth replied. Will pulled out a bottle of water from the refrigerator and handed it to Elizabeth but plopping down next to her. "So, I want to see your film."

"God fucking damnit, you're persistent!" Will sighed, but pulled himself to his feet and disappeared into his room for a moment. Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh a bit. She hadn't know Will for too long at all and it already seemed as though she could convince him too do anything. Will reappeared, a DVD clutched in his hand.

"I only have two on this one. They're my freshman and sophomore films. Neither too good I remind you," Will informed her as he readied the movie. He sat back next to Elizabeth and pressed the play button on the remote he held.

The picture was grainy for a moment before it sharpened and started. The screen showed an image of a young man settled on a small bed that was sitting in a stark white room. The man put down the book he was reading and exited the room. A close up was brought up of the young man's hands as he signed a sheet of paper bearing the title of 'Park Slope Rehabilitation Center'. A small bit of chatter between the young man and an employee at the center went on in the background. The young man said that he was simply going to walk down the street to buy a drink.

The young man strolled down the street by himself. Outside a lush, green park, he stopped to tie his shoe quietly. He glanced down the sidewalk in front of him and immediately froze.

The camera changed to the patch of sidewalk where the young man's gaze was held. A needle sat unmoving on the filthy sidewalk. It captivated the man's gaze. From his crouched position, he looked at the syringe a longing look buried deep in his gaze. Shaking himself, the man went back to his shoe and continued down the sidewalk.

"So, wait, is he like a crack addict?" Elizabeth interrupted. Will rolled his eyes conspicuously.

"Hun, just watch it. I swear, you'll understand it in the end," Will told her. Nodding, she turned her attention back to the screen.

The young man was now caught in a conversation with another shady looking man. This second man revealed in a very unsubtle way that the young man was at one time highly addicted to cocaine. The young man passed off the offer of a hit and continued on his way.

The young man stopped to buy himself a soda from a vending machine. His hand hovered for a moment above the button for Diet Coke before he hastily selected Sprite. Grabbing the can, he exited the store and was immediately bowled over by the man he had met earlier. Hurriedly the man forced a small baggie into the young man's hand before running away. The young man glanced down at the baggie clutched in his hand. It was filled with a rather large portion of white powder. The young man grasped it tightly and ran off into a nearby alleyway.

The young man sat down on a filthy stoop. He sat for a moment gazing longingly at the baggie's contents. His hands visibly twitched and beads of sweat formed on his brow. The young man quickly flung the baggie away from him and left before he could change his mind.

As the young man jogged back toward the center before the curfew, he crossed several streets haphazardly. The camera cut to a silver car racing down the street. The young man passed in front of the car without looking and the screen went black.

The driver of the car, the man from before, looked back quickly and continued driving, unfazed.

The camera panned slowly over the crumpled body of the young man. He lay unmoving, eyes blank and blood running slowly from his mouth. The camera faded to black and the credits began.

"You killed him?!" Elizabeth asked in shock. "You can't kill the main character!"

"Well, I did. There's an entire genre of film where the main character _always_ dies!" Will informed her.

"But that's completely depressing!"

"I never told you it was gonna be a happy movie," Will told her, a smile spreading across his lips. Elizabeth's expression was still one of shock. "Anyway, that was my freshman film. I wasn't lying when I said it sucked."

"No, no, it was good, but-"

"No subtle at all," Will told her.

"How'd you come up with that?" Elizabeth inquired. Will stood up to put in the next DVD.

"It's about my friend, Jasper." He paused for a moment and an understanding silence descended on them. Elizabeth knew what it was like to loose someone close to her. She herself had lost her mother to lung cancer a few years ago. It had been very upsetting and it was still hard for her to not have her mother around. "Basically the same thing happened to him when I was seventeen. I like filming about things that are close to me."

"Can I see your next film?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

"Didn't need to ask," Will said, flashing her a smile. "This one I did last year. It's much better if I do say so myself."

This one was a black and white film. The older man sat in an apartment, which Elizabeth immediately recognized as Will's. The man was working on some kind of invention. He paused for a moment and put a pair of headphones on. He moved a microphone around the apartment and a distant buzzing was all that came from it. Discouraged, the man stood up and exited the apartment, dragging his invention along with him.

He sat alone in a café, chewing slowly on a sandwich. He stared at the invention on the table, and he toyed with it for a moment. A look of realization spread across his face and he adjusted a few knobs and tightened a few screws. This time when he swept the microphone across the restaurant, a quiet screeching interrupted the buzzing in the background. Excitedly, the man stood up, flung down a couple of bills on the table, and ran outside following the screeching. He entered a park, the screeching growing louder and louder. When he found the source of the noise, he rushed over to where a young woman was picking flowers and making a chain of them. In his frenzy, the man pushed the girl aside and starred down at the flower before him.

He reached out to the tiny flower. He steadied the flower and gently removed his hand. A peaceful humming now came from the headset as the microphone was set to the flower. The man thought for a moment and yanked the flower out of the ground. A shrill shriek erupted from where the flower sat. Not able to stand the noise anymore, the man ripped the headset from where they sat.

The man sat back in his apartment, all of his houseplants on the table before him. He placed the headset back on his ears and took a drag from his cigarette. As the smoke formed in the air, a scream came from the plants. He quickly put out his cigarette and poured some water on the plants. In place of the screams, the quiet humming came from the flowers. Content with his discovery, e leaned back on the sofa.

From the headphones, the man head yet another piercing scream. Curious, the man ran to the window and gazed, horrorstruck at the scene below him. Running to the medicine cabinet, the man grabbed a strip of gauze and iodine.

Down on the street below, a young couple stood at a tree, carving their names into the bark. As the left, the man ran to the tree frantically. He looked at the damage done to the tree as tears began to form at the corners of his eyes. He wrapped the tree's wound in gaze and cried for the tree and the pain it felt.

"And that's that one," Will said as the film ended.

"Interesting. So was he like a bit crazy or what?" Elizabeth asked. Truth be told it was a bit of an odd film.

"No, no, he understood that a plant does have feelings too, or at least feels things," Will told her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when you pick a flower or something, you don't really think about the fact you're killing it, like literally ripping it apart."

"Will, that's a horrible thought!" Elizabeth exclaimed. Will chuckled.

"Sorry, didn't mean it to be, but it's true."

"And this is based on what? Some you know can understand plants?" Elizabeth teased.

"Nah, this is a short story I read once," Will explained. "Well now that you've seen my shit, I get to see what you've done."

Elizabeth pouted. "No," she whined.

"C'mon, it's only fair," Will said poking her side causing her to giggled. Will deviously began to tickle her sides, as Elizabeth writhed around laughing.

"Will! Stop it!" she ordered between laughs and the desperate gasps.

"I wanna see what you've done," Will told her, not stopping his assault.

"Alright!" she gasped. "Fine! Just stop!" Will complied and allowed her to sit up straight again. He face was flushed with color. Will could not help but to laugh at her ticklishness. "Not fair!" she said, hitting his arm.

"So what do we do now?" Will asked her, snaking his arm around her waist tentatively. Instead of pulling away, Elizabeth rested her head on Will's shoulder.

"Dunno," Will said. "We could go out to a movie or stay here and watch one," he offered.

"We could stay here. What movies do you have?" Elizabeth asked. Pulling her up, they entered Will's room to where he kept his movies.

"Anyone you wanna watch?"

"I actually haven't seem many of these," Elizabeth admitted gazing at the titles. Most of them appeared to be pretty old movies. She selected one of the movies a showed Will. "Is this any good?" she inquired.

"_Psycho_? One of my favorites!" Will told her. "It' s a bit scary if you don't mind that." Nodding Elizabeth brought Will out to the main room and she sat down on the couch. Once the movie started, Will flopped down next to Elizabeth.

They sat together, Elizabeth clutching Will's hand as they watched Norman Bates murder Marion Crane.

"It's not exactly like the horror movies today is it?" Will asked.

"Shut up!" Elizabeth hissed, completely wrapped up in the movie. By the time it was over, Elizabeth was completely in love with it.

"I knew you'd like it," Will told her, a grin on his face. They sat together watching some late night television.

At about three in the morning, Jack swaggered into the apartment once again. His night had gone poorly. He was thrown out of several bars and restaurants in addition to being slapped in the face by several prospective dates. Safe to say, Jack was in a bad mood. To make matters worse, he was still sober.

Jack was planning on bitching to Will about his horrible night, that is he was until he saw his roommate asleep on the couch with Elizabeth. Shaking his head, Jack went into his room without interrupting them. Will would never be allowed to say that Jack wasn't considerate sometimes.

So, tell me how you liked it. I felt that it was a bit rushed, but maybe you didn't. Let me know.

Arminta Ditch: You don't know how happy I am that you adore this and that you can relate to where they are. I think it is important that a writer to know exactly where their character lives and in my case, it's New York City. Personally I think that it would kinda suck if I was bulshittin' my way through writing this anywhere else. I hope you like this new chapter, and if you don't tell me what I could have done to fix it.

Pirategal101: I was definitely thinking Chinese food when I wrote that. Of course then it made me hungry. Haha. Well, I hope that you think his movies were good and that I didn't over do it.

Unacymbal: yeh, I did decide on New York for several reasons one of which is that I know more about it than anywhere else. Hope you like it

Girlz-rule: good, I have every intention of keeping this WE since that it in my opinion the most interesting ship to write. Enjoy :P

Klcxthexpirate: jack's definitely a funny character to write, he's so versatile to use. Glad you liked the last chappy, hope this one works for ya.

Dramaqueen247: I know that I was not able to update right away, blame summer laziness. Hope this one made up for my slow chapter output.

Cheers!

jim


	7. Chapter 7

Bright morning light filtered through the tiny apartment. Horns from the traffic below blared and several sirens went off from the cars in the street. None of this interrupted the slumbering couple on the couch. They still were in their upright positions although they had slumped against each other.

All was quiet in the apartment, that is until the lyrics of 'Hey There Delilah' filled the small space. Will bolted up upright at the annoying song, glancing around for the source of the noise. Elizabeth was awoken from her sleep at Will's sudden movement. When the song restarted, she rose from the sofa and fumbled through her purse, finally digging out her cell phone. When she answered it finally, the horrid song was finally stopped. Will sighed, stood up and stretched, trying to loosen up some of the kinks in his back. He peered at the clock on the wall across the flat. It was only eleven fourty-six, far too early to be waking up on a Saturday morning.

Elizabeth snapped her cell phone shut with a sigh. "Sorry about that," she said. "That was my father. He was worried when he got up to the apartment this morning and I wasn't there. I told him I was at a friend's house, just so he wouldn't worry." She smiled at him tiredly.

"So he's alright then? With you here?" Will asked tentatively.

"Well he has no choice does he?" Elizabeth replied. "But I do have to go home for a bit though." Will noticed she did sound a bit disappointed at the statement. Will have her a lopsided grin.

"Do you have to?" Will asked. He hoped it didn't sound to needy. Truth be told, he enjoyed waking up next to Elizabeth despite the unconventional wake up call.

"Yeah I do," she responded as she gathered up a few of her things and pulled her tangled hair into a messy ponytail. "Can I give you a call later though?"

"Of course," Will said, giving her his cell phone number excitiedly. He walked Elizabeth to the door.

"Thank you Will. Last night was fun," Elizabeth told him honestly.

"It was."

"I'll call you later then?"

"I look forward to it," replied Will, the tired grin still plastered on his face.

"Bye Will!" Elizabeth called as she descended the staircase.

"Seeya later!" Will closed the door once her footsteps faded away. He leaned tiredly on the door with his eyes closed, pleased all the same. He heard a chuckle from across the apartment. Opening one eye, Will found Jack standing at his door staring at Will. "You're up early," Will told him.

"Well mate I could help but overhear you lil' lovebirds," Jack informed Will.

"Sorry 'bout that."

"Eh, it's fine I guess." Jack crossed to the kitchen area where he started the coffee pot before plopping down at the table. "You gonna do somethin' with 'Lizabeth later or do I need to find somethin' to entertain you with?"

"Dunno yet. Maybe," Will replied, joining his friend at the table. He couldn't ignore the stupid smile Jack wore. "What is it?"

"You like her don't ya?" Jack asked. Will surveyed his friend. He knew that deep down Jack was concerned with Will's relationships. No matter how much Jack teased Will about his inability to be in a stable relationship, Jack really did care, very deep down.

"I do," Will confirmed.

"Good for you mate," Jack said, clapping Will on the shoulder. "I'll be nice and leave her to you. Besides, I would be far too easy for me to woo." Will couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"How kind of you," Will replied sarcastically. "I'm actually going to bed and see if I can get some rest. We should consider getting a new couch soon, that thing is a fucking bitch to sleep on." He retreated into his room and promptly fell asleep on the bed.

Jack shook his head at his friend. He hoped things would go well for his friend. All Will wanted was someone good. God knows he deserved something good after the last few relationships Will had been through.

_Jack sat on the couch by himself. He was taking tonight off from barhopping. Some days he just needed to take a break from picking up women. _

_Will was out tonight with his girlfriend. They had been dating for a few months. Jack entertained the idea of himself settling down one day with a woman and maybe having a kid or two. Yeah, it was a ridiculous thought. _

_The front door handle rattled as it was unlocked. Will entered the apartment quietly, shutting the old door behind him. "That date ended early," Jack stated trying to poke a bit of fun at Will. Looking up, Jack found his words had not even registered with Will. In fact, Will had not moved from his spot since he entered. _

_"You alright Will?" Jack asked, concerned. When Will didn't responded right away, Jack knew there was something wrong._

_"Ashley broke up with me."_

_Jack did know what to say. He knew Will had really liked Ashley, maybe even loved her. _

_"Will, I'm really sorry," Jack told his friend. He didn't know what else to say. _

_"I really liked her Jack. But she didn't like me apparently." _

_"Will, you'll find someone else, I know it," Jack tried to console his friend. _

_"I know, but I don't want anyone right now."_

Jack turned the page of his paper and was roused from his thoughts by the sound of the coffee pot signaling the brew was ready. Who knows, maybe Elizabeth would be good for Will.

A/N: Alright. I know I was really short, and I'm sorry for that. But better something short then leave you hanging for a while. So, tell me what you thought of my mini-chapter.

Girlz-rule: I hope this chapter was good for you. I know its short, but it's still something right?

EpisodeSkywalker: im really glad you liked that last chapter. I hope you liked this one as well, so tell me what you thought

Dramaqueen247: alright alright, I will. We do know at least that will likes Elizabeth. So don't crack anytime soon, just hang on :P

Unacymbal: I never said they wouldn't be real. Theyre actually some films my friends had made, some of the better ones really. Theyre really the only good ones I could think of at the time, but still. And how could I resist them doing something overly cutesy?

Pirategal101: glad you liked them. Youll have to hang on a bit for will to see what Elizabeth has done mostly because I still have to figure it out :P so just hang in there for a bit.

Klcxthexpirate: yes, psycho. I love that movie, its really twisted and totally worth seeing. Glad you loved it :P


	8. Chapter 8

Author enters awkwardly …Hey guys… it's been a while huh? Sorry about that really. I've been getting ready to move for school, which is proving to be quite a feat. But really, enough excuses. Thanks for hangin' around to read this. So, onward!

Elizabeth had finally made it back to her apartment. She knew that Will's apartment wasn't all too far away, but the partially run down streets he lived on was practically an alien world in comparison to her Upper East Side neighborhood. While many of her friends growing up would look down on someone living the life of a 'starving artist' such as how Will was living, Elizabeth found it perfectly respectable.

She got up to the apartment only to be greeted by her frantic father. Weatherby Swann was really a wonderful father, but he did have a generally paranoid demeanor about him when it came to his only daughter.

"Elizabeth! I was so worried! When I got in here this morning, I had no idea where you were! I thought we agreed that if you we not going to be home, you'd leave a note!" he rushed out, completely flustered. Elizabeth sighed. There were some times when her father reminded her a lot of a mother hen. This would be one of the times.

"Daddy, need I remind you that I am twenty-one years old and perfectly capable of taking care of myself?" Weatherby knew she was right. Elizabeth was legally an adult and lived by herself for the most part.

"I know you are. But as your father, I am allowed to worry about you, aren't I?" Thankfully, Weatherby had brought a smile to his daughter. She knew that as over-protective as he was, Elizabeth would not want her father any other way. "So where you last night then?"

"I stayed over at my friend's apartment last night," Elizabeth said, as she sat down at the table, making herself comfortable.

"Have I met this friend before?"

"No, I just met him the other day," Elizabeth informed her father.

"A 'him' is it? Is it someone special?" Weatherby asked jokingly.

"Father! I just met him." A light blush was beginning to spread across Elizabeth cheeks. The idea of maybe dating Will steadily was not an unlikable idea. She may never admit it out loud, but Will did possess a certain charm that Elizabeth was drawn to. Of course, she tried to hint to Will that she liked him.

"Alright, alright," Weatherby sighed. "Are you going to be doing anything later?"

"Yeah, I maybe going out with Will again tonight. Or tomorrow of course," Elizabeth decided.

"Alright," Weatherby said, standing up. "I'll be around tomorrow and then I'll be downtown working Monday and Tuesday. Call me alright Elizabeth?"

"Of course I will," Elizabeth promised as her father left the apartment. Elizabeth continued to sit at the table for some time. She took out her cell phone and found Will's number. She thought about desperate it would seem if she called him right away. Yes, she'd give it some time before she called him. She shut the phone with a loud snap and went to her room.

Elizabeth looked at the lavish room she had. After taking a look at Will's tiny bedroom, her seemed gigantic. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught her appearance in the full-length mirror. Grimacing, she took in her rumpled clothing and knotted hair. Elizabeth knew that under different circumstances, she would never have left any house looking the way she did. She decided to take a quick shower and change into clean and more comfortable clothing. With this task accomplished, she busied herself with making breakfast, or a later lunch if she was going by the clock. She enjoyed a quiet meal by herself, barely listening to the sound of the television in the next room over.

With nothing else to do, Elizabeth mind drifted. Picking up her cell phone, she found Will's number and pressed the send button. Putting it to her ear, she listened to the ringing on the other end. As the ringing continued, she considered hanging up before her call went to Will's voice mail. Just as she was going to snap the phone shut, a groggy voice answered the call.

"'Ello?" It wasn't Will. "Who's this?" Elizabeth knew the person sounded familiar. She knew that this was Will's number, wasn't it? Panicking for a moment, she thought wildly about Will purposely giving her the wrong number. Then she recognized the slurring voice.

"Jack? Is that you?"

"Yeah it's me."

"It's a Elizabeth," she told him. "Will's friend?" There was a pause on the other end.

"Oh! Lizzie!" Jack exclaimed having finally matched the name to the person. "What can I do for you?" he said.

"I'm actually looking for Will. This is his cell phone right?"

"Oh, yeah it is. I just couldn't stand it ringin' anymore." On the other side of the line, Will ambled out of his bedroom. He hadn't gotten back to sleep but instead lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. The ringing of his cell phone had finally forced him out of his room to answer it.

"What are you doing with my cell phone Jack?" he asked tiredly. Jack looked surprised to see Will up finally.

"Well Lizzie, it seems our dear William is finally up," Jack said into Will's cell phone. Now wake, Will rushed up to his friend and tried to snatch his phone away from Jack. Elizabeth could hear the ensuing tussle from the other end and could not help but to chuckle at the two young men.

"Elizabeth?" came Will's breathless voice from the other end.

"Hey Will. How are you?" she asked, happy to hear his voice once again.

"Can't complain much. Sorry about Jack."

"It's alright," giggled Elizabeth. Truth be told, her conversation with Jack had gone nowhere. All Jack did was ramble on for a few moments about his misadventure at the various bars he went to last night.

"So what can I do for you?" Will finally asked.

"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to do something today. You know, just for a little while," Elizabeth told him.

"Oh, yeah! Sure!" Will replied smiling. "Anything in mind?" On her end of the line, Elizabeth thought for a moment.

"Honestly I have no idea," Elizabeth said, with a slightly embarrassed chuckle. "Do you want to come over here? And then maybe we can figure out something to do?"

Will thought for a moment. He had a bit of homework to do for his afternoon class tomorrow, but to hell with it for now. "Yeah, that sounds good. I'll be over in a while."

"I'll see you then," replied Elizabeth. Upon hearing Will's farewell, she snapped the cell phone shut. Smiling, she returned to her room and went through all of her clothing to find something suitable to wear.

Some time later, Elizabeth heard the house telephone ring. It continued ringing until Elizabeth answered it. Fumbling slightly in her state of half- dress, she picked it up to be addressed by her doorman downstairs. He informed her that there was a 'Will Turner' downstairs in the lobby asking for her. Elizabeth told the doorman to send Will up to her apartment. Elizabeth noted that she must have lost complete track of time since it _did _take some time to get from Will's neighborhood to her own.

"Hold on a sec Will," she called from her bedroom at the sound of the buzzing doorbell. Elizabeth straightened her clothing and admitted Will into the apartment. "Hey Will."

"You look beautiful," he replied, grinning sheepishly. Flattered, Elizabeth muttered a quite word of thanks.

"Have you thought of anything we could do?" Elizabeth questioned. Will shook his head.

"I hate to say it, but I can't stay too long. I have some work I need to get done for tomorrow." Elizabeth nodded in understanding. "Maybe, I dunno, we could go for a walk or something?"

"How about we go to the park? I haven't been there in ages," she admitted. It seemed ridiculous for her never to go to the park that sat just a block away.

Soon enough, they were outside in the brilliant sunlight that flooded Manhattan. Together, they walked into the park and slowed their pace to a leisurely stroll that they were generally unaccustomed to on the sidewalks.

They flopped down on the grass side by side, their hands intertwined. Will leaned back with his free hand behind his head, his eyes closed. Elizabeth sat next to him, looking at the people around them. She noted that many of them were in fact couples. She peered down at Will. Did the people around them think they were also together?

"Hey Will?" she asked, nudging his side slightly.

"Hmm?"

"What are we?" she questioned tentatively. This prompted Will to open his eyes once again, giving her a puzzling stare.

"You mean like relationship wise?" He himself had been considering this question also and found it to be quite interesting. There was almost no doubt to him that they shared a certain attraction. "I don't know, I mean," he hesitated. "I really like you Elizabeth."

Grinning happily, Elizabeth at back further on her elbow, turning her body towards Will. "I like you too Will."

"Well, I dunno, if you'd like to maybe go out with me?" Will asked, his ears turning red under the pressure; his head had lowered so he now stared at the grass between them.

"You mean like what we're doing right now?" Elizabeth teased. It was rather cute how he squirmed in certain situations.

"No no, I mean- would you like to be my girlfriend?" he blurted out, still not meeting her graze.

Elizabeth nodded happily, but noticing that Will still not had raised his gaze, she responded. "Yes Will, I'd love to."

"Really?" he said, his eyes snapping up to hers. She nodded once more before moving closer to Will and closing her eyes as well for a few moments with him.

..Gah it's been too long. I'm sorry about the wait, but as I said, I've been busy packing and such. I'm actually moving next week, so I may be able to put out another chapter before I get to involved. So hang in with me!

Oh, tell me how this chapter was. I wrote it in bits and pieces rather then all at once so I'm not sure how it turned out. tell me

Cheers!

Jim

Pirategal101: im really glad you love this story. Sorry its been so long for my standards, but here it is! Hope you liked it!

Klcxthexpirate: I agree that in some cases short chapters are the life of a story. Haha, if you haven't seen psycho yet, get those parents out! you cant wait an entire year:P

Williz: oh computers. Deep down, we all know it's horrible that we cant live without the anymore. I'm glad you think I do justice to how they live quite different lives but they don't care. I think things like living status is becoming less and less of an issue for people now, whereas it was once unacceptable for two people of different living conditions basically never interacted. And of course I've seen Rear Window! I think it maybe one of my favorite Hitchcock films, but it is hard to say. He is one of my al-time favorite directors, and that's saying quite a lot for me. :P

QuidditchGirl30: so glad you love it! sorry for the wait though!

Girlz-Rule: I believe this one is a bit longer for you! hope you liked it!

Dramaqueen247: I wrote more! I'm trying to be a bit more on top of my posts, but believe me, I can never leave anything for too long unupdated.

Unacymbal: I did add in a bit more of jack and Elizabeth in this chapter and I hope to use jack a lot more in future. He's such a fun character to write and id hate to go without him for too long.

Araminta Ditch: deep into the wilderness huh? Wow, I give you credit, I love doing that occasionally, but I don't think I could ever last more then a week or so. Well, I know I went a long time without posting anything, but I do have my excuses. I hope to update at least once more before I move.

EpisodeSkywalker: deep down, I think we all know jack as a bit of soft spot. And sorry about the shortness, but I think a short chappy is better then none, am I right?

Californiasquirt: glad you like it. I hope you keep reading and that you like the next few chapters.

Indianaxxjones: im really glad you think this is well written and not to mention that you really like it. I'll be sure to add more jack in later!


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks for waiting guys; I've been really busy lately.

"Why does your father want to meet me?" Will groaned as he gazed out the window next to him. The passing countryside went whizzing as the train sped further and further from the city. Will Turner sat next to his girlfriend, Elizabeth, and was currently moaning about the visit to her father that they were on this weekend.

"Well, he thinks that we've been seeing each other long enough so that-"

"Three months is a long time?" interjected Will. Inwardly, he smiled at the fact. They had been dating for almost three months now. Despite their conflicting schedules most days, Will and Elizabeth spent as much time as they could together. It was really special what they had together.

"Well, according to my father, three months _is_ a long time," Elizabeth giggled. Admittedly, she was not looking forward to introducing Will to her Father. It wasn't that she was ashamed of Will, of course not. But knowing her father, a simple weekend trip could possibly turn into a full examination of every fine detail of Will.

Shrugging, Will continued to stare out the window. He wasn't exactly a fan of making the trip to Connecticut, but Elizabeth wanted him too. For her, he'd suffer the weekend. Elizabeth leaned her head on Will's shoulder and closed her eyes. "We'll be at the station soon," she muttered quietly.

"How are we getting to your place anyway?" Will asked after a moment's pause.

"Not sure," Elizabeth replied after a couple of seconds. "One of my parents will pick us up."

"So no butler?" Will asked, a teasing grin on his face.

"Believe it or not." They sat quietly for some time together. The train began to slow down as it pulled into the small, outdoor train station. Will and Elizabeth stood up, grabbed their bags and waited for the doors to open.

The sky overhead was gray and stormy. Scattered raindrops feel onto the passengers as they exited the train. Will and Elizabeth climbed the stairs, walked above the tracks and down another flight of stairs, putting them on the tiny street.

Elizabeth scanned the small group of cars sitting idle outside. She quickly spotted one of her family's cars. Nudging Will, she made her way over to the car and found her stepmother at the wheel. Knocking on the glass, she caught the woman's attention and smiled. She got out of the car and pulled Elizabeth into a tight embrace.

"Elizabeth! How are you? It's so good to see you again!" she said in more of a friendly than motherly way.

"I'm good. Happy to see you too," Elizabeth said, her smile a bit forced. Quickly changing gears, Elizabeth turned to Will. "This is Will, my boyfriend."

"It's nice to meet you Will. I'm Susan, Elizabeth's stepmother," she offered her hand to Will in a very business-like manner. Will shook her hand politely, noticing there grip was uncomfortably firm.

"It's nice to meet you Susan." They got into the car soon after; the rain had started coming down a bit heavier now. The car ride back to Elizabeth's house took a lot longer then Will had anticipated. The ride seemed even longer due to the little bits of small talk passing between the three of them.

"Will, have you ever been to Ridgefield?" Susan asked, peering at him from her rear view mirror.

"No I haven't," Will responded. He actually had never stayed in Connecticut. "I've lived in the city all my life."

Susan nodded, unsmiling. "It's a very nice place to live," she told Will. The rest of the car trip was in near complete silence. Will sat alone in the backseat and gazed mindlessly out of the rain-splattered window. Never in his life had he seen more trees. Unlike New York, homes and businesses were not stacked on top of each other and were spaced out.

Elizabeth turned back to Will. "We're turning onto Main Street now Will. You'll get to see all the hustle and bustle of a small town," she remarked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Interested to see some small town life, Will intently looked out of the fogged window. As they turned left onto Main Street, an old, white marble fountain spouted water upwards. At first glance, the street seemed completely unremarkable; large houses sat on either side of the street. The sidewalk was set back from road and was lined with tall trees and lush grass. They were halted at a stoplight and waited for a few people to cross the street. On this part of Main Street, tiny shops were squished right up next to one another. Unlike the bustling streets of Manhattan, these buildings were only about two stories high. Only a few people were actually outside. "Were is everyone?" Will asked. He had never seen a street so empty at this time of day.

"Well, it about six in the evening on a Friday, so everyone's at home eating dinner," Elizabeth explained. As they continued down the street, they passed a few cemeteries and a few small houses. Of course, most of these houses were larger then Will's apartment, but by the standards of this town, they were miniscule. Pulling into a driveway off of one of the main roads, the car sped down a long driveway. "Alright, here we are," came Elizabeth's voice from the front seat.

Getting out of the car, Will stared in amazement at the exterior of Elizabeth's house. 'House' was hardly a word for it really. It was massive. The vast lawn was fenced in and was filled with towering trees that could have blocked out the sun in some places if it was out.

"No wonder why you guys can afford the Upper East Side," Will said quietly to Elizabeth in a joking undertone. She hit his arm lightly in response.

"Let's go inside." They traipsed in through the front door and pulled off their coats in the foyer. Elizabeth's father heard them enter the house and entered the foyer from a room from further in the house.

"Elizabeth! Welcome home!" he pulled his daughter into a tight hug which she returned right away. Spying the young man Elizabeth had brought home with her, Weatherby Swann relinquished his grip on his daughter and faced him.

Even without a single word, Weatherby was already drawing some conclusions about the boy. Although he had heard many positive things about him from Elizabeth, and he didn't _want_ to judge him before speaking to him, Weatherby always had his daughter's best interests at hand.

"So you must be Will," Weatherby said, forcing a smile. Will gave him a genuine smile and offered his hand to Weatherby.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Swann," Will replied politely. He was determined to make a good impression. "Your house is truly beautiful," Will told both Weatherby and Susan. Elizabeth gave him an encouraging smile from behind her parent's backs. She knew he was doing everything to get her parents to like him. It was important to Elizabeth that her parents liked Will.

"Dinner should be ready in a few minutes," piped Susan. "Elizabeth? Why don't you and Will bring your bags upstairs?" Nodding, Elizabeth grabbed her bag in one hand and Will's in the other and dragged him upstairs.

"Hun, your house is massive," Will said in awe as Elizabeth maneuvered her way through said house.

"I know. I've always thought it was a little much," she replied. "I mean, there's no need for a house this big for the three of us." She finally stopped outside a room. "I hope you don't mind but my parents insist that you sleep in one of the guest rooms. They seem to think that all college students screw like rabbits," she admitted, a flush of red spreading across her cheeks. Will rolled his eyes too. True enough, college is considered a place of promiscuity, but not in all cases. Case in point, Will and Elizabeth. It might seem very strange to anyone else, but they hadn't _done it_ yet. It wasn't that they didn't want to. They did. Every time they got into a compromising situation, one of them would stop it from going any further. As frustrating as it was, they didn't want their relationship to be based solely on sex.

"It's alright. I don't mind," Will said finally; he wasn't about to argue with the Swanns. Placing his bags down in the room, they heard a call from downstairs. Will sighed.

"You'll be fine," Elizabeth told him. Pulling her gently into his embrace, Will agreed with a simple nod. Sensing his apprehension, Elizabeth raised herself on her tiptoes and placed a gentle kiss on her boyfriend's lips.

"I know I will." A second call came from the kitchen, this one a bit more annoyed. "You lead the way," Will told Elizabeth. "I'll get us lost."

A/N: Wow, that took forever to get out. I've been busy moving and such, but now I'm all settled and such.

Girlz-rule: I promise the next chapter will be updated a bit faster. :D

Williz: Yep, moving out for college. Hope you do well there too :P (Hitchcock is awesome. No better way to put it)

Klcxthexpirate: haha, glad you thought it was adorable. I try :P

Pirategal101: love you review as usual! They are pretty cute together, not gonna lie.

Araminta Ditch: glad you liked it! nah, my move wasn't too bad thank you

Californiasquirt: im glad that you like how I characterize will and Elizabeth. Its important to me to keep them in character. :D

PirateAngel1286: glad you like it, hope you liked this bit too!

Lauren nichole: im happy you think that its fantastic :D I'll try and keep it up, even the updating :D


	10. Chapter 10

"So Will, Elizabeth tells us that you two have been dating for some time now," Weatherby said across the table over dinner.

Will cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yes, just over three months now," he replied. The four of them were all settled in the Swann's dinning room. Just like everything else they owned, it was completely over the top. As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, Will was simply uncomfortable. He was never used to living the way Elizabeth's family did.

"Oh well that's nice," Susan piped in quietly. Will caught Elizabeth's gaze and smiled in agreement. Another awkward silence descended on their dinner.

"William, Elizabeth never told us where you're going to school. You are going of course?" Susan asked, trying to save a dying conversation.

"Yes, I am in school right now. I'm going to the School of Visual Arts," replied Will.

"Hmm, haven't heard of it," Weatherby interjected.

"It's a very good school," affirmed Will. He wasn't really surprised.

"What field are you going into Will?" Susan asked kindly.

"Film," he responded simply.

"New York University has a wonderful, prestigious film program," Weatherby pressed.

"I know they do-" Will began.

"Did you apply there?" Weatherby interrupted. This little exchange was starting to piss Will off. Why should he care so much about Will's school choice?

"Of course I did. And I was accepted. I just didn't want to go," Will finished somewhat lamely. The silence descended over them once again.

"Will's a fantastic filmmaker," Elizabeth finally said. She had been totally quiet up until this point. Outwardly, she looked clam, but her mind was really running a thousand miles an hour. She was terrified that her parents would hate Will. How could anyone hate him?

"Oh, but it is a very hard business to get into isn't it?"

"Well, yes," Will admitted. "But so is every artistic field. But I think if you love something, you should be willing to take that risk."

"Of course, but many risks end in a complete fiasco," Weatherby noted. "I for one could not imagine allowing myself to go in to a failure situation like that."

"There's a big difference between a failure and a fiasco," argued Will.

"Oh yes?" challenged Weatherby, a bit shocked. He could not believe the willingness of this boy to defend his point.

"Well yeah. A fiasco is complete and total humiliating failure that you can't get over. A failure is just failure. You get over that and make it better. Besides, those who risk, win," Will smiled; he made his point. Weatherby sat there, slightly flabbergasted.

"To an extent, I'm sure your right," Weatherby gave it. Elizabeth smiled. She knew that her parents did not like the lifestyle of an artist and the only reason they let her go to an art school was that they knew if she failed, they had enough money to take care of her. Elizabeth was never told that directly, but she knew. She had grown up with her parents telling her that she would make a wonderful businesswoman. When she told them that she was going to an acting school, they tried to talk her out of it.

"This is a wonderful meal Mrs. Swann," Will brought himself to say. Truth be told, he hated every bit of it. As nice and hospitable Susan was, the woman could not cook. Jack could probably cook better then her. The spaghetti in vodka sauce she had made was undercooked, the salad was starting to wither away, the garlic bread partially burned. Will wasn't about to complain though. It would be like suicide. Instead, he'd suffer through it.

"Thank you Will, but really I just got it together this afternoon," Susan said smiling broadly. Will knew his manners. Not being able to swallow another stiff fork-full of pasta, Will put his cutlery aside. He cast his gaze to where Elizabeth sat next to him. Eying him, Elizabeth turned to him and returned his smile. Noticing that he was fidgeting his hands nervously under the table, Elizabeth discreetly put her own hand on top of his. He immediately took it and squeezed it thankfully.

Quietly, each of them finished their meal. Overall, dinner hadn't gone _too_ badly. Then again, it's not liked they spoke very much.

With each of them done, Will stood up and took up the dirty plates. "You don't have to do that William," Susan interjected.

"Please, I'm happy to help," Will said. Elizabeth stood up to help him into the kitchen. The two of them exited the dining room, carrying with them the dishes.

"Well, Will seems to be a nice boy," Susan sad in an undertone to Weatherby.

"I'm not sure. He's not exactly the kind of man I see with my daughter with," Weatherby replied, a bit of a worried look on his face. Susan frowned.

"Give him a chance Weatherby. He seems like a good man." Elizabeth re-entered the room to pick up the last of the dishes. "Where's Will?"

"In the kitchen still," informed Elizabeth, still to nervous to meet her parents' gaze. "I think he's insisting on washing the dishes." Susan jumped up and hurried into where Will was working.

"Oh William, you don't need to do that!" Susan said, stopping Will from washing. "We have a dishwasher for all of that, and I insist on doing it."

"Let me help at least!" Will said kindly, as Susan nudged him out of the room.

"Elizabeth, do something with him," Susan laughed as her stepdaughter entered. Elizabeth couldn't help but grinning. It seemed as though Susan liked Will at least and that was defiantly something. She took Will's hand and dragged him out the room.

As soon as they traipsed up into Elizabeth room, Will lost his upbeat demeanor. "Your father hates me," he decided.

"No he doesn't Will," Elizabeth said, trying to pull him out of his little depressed stint. He was slumped tiredly against her closed door and gave her a lopsided smile.

"Nah, I fucked that up. I shouldn't have pressed that whole failure thing. Why should I care if he thinks I'll fail?"

Elizabeth made her way back over to her boyfriend. She stood up on her tiptoes and gave him a chaste kiss. "I know you won't fail at anything," she said trying to pick him up.

Will snaked his arms around her waist and brought his lips back to hers. "You're too good to me, ya know that?" They stood like that for several moments until a knock came from the other side of the door. Moving aside, Elizabeth opened the door to find Susan standing there.

"Not interrupting anything, am I?" she asked. "Well, I just wanted to know if you two were going to be doing something tonight."

"Well, I did intend to show Will more of Ridgefield more tomorrow. If it's nice out maybe we'll go for a walk down by the lake," Elizabeth outlined. "Why? Did you have anything in mind?"

"Well, I thought maybe you two could go out for a movie or something. There are quite few new ones out this weekend," Susan said. "You know, just to get out of the house for a bit."

"Trying to get rid of us Susan?" Elizabeth asked. In response, Susan just laughed.

"No, why don't you go to the movies or something? Maybe the mall? That's still open," she continued to badger them for a while. Finally the young couple agreed to take a ride to the next town over.

Elizabeth led Will to the garage and instructed him to climb into the Jeep. Will obliged and sat in the passenger side. He did not want to attempt to drive on the windy Ridgefield roads.

"Is there any place in particular you'd like to stop at?" Elizabeth asked. Will shook his head.

"Anywhere is fine. We can just drive around if you'd like," he told her. Elizabeth pulled out of the driveway and sped down the road. She abruptly slammed on the breaks causing the both of them to lurch forward. "That fuck was that for?" Will yell out in shock. He raised his eyes to the road and saw a deer crossing the road. "You guys really live in the middle of no where don't you?"

"Now you've figured out why I moved," Elizabeth laughed in reply, urging the car forward once more. They drove up to the next town over and drove around for an hour or so. Agreeing that there really was very little for them to do at this hour, they decided to return to the Swann's home and turn in for the night. It wasn't at all late at night, but both Will and Elizabeth were admittedly tired.

Elizabeth brought Will back up to their rooms across from one another. He turned into his own room and stripped down to his boxers and undershirt. While waiting for Elizabeth, Will opened one of the windows in his room and leaned his head outside. He didn't move until he heard Elizabeth enter the room.

"Be careful, you'll fall out," Elizabeth teased. She had learned that Will was quite accident prone.

"It's too quiet here," Will mused. It was true. He was used to trucks passing by on the street, people talking down on the sidewalk, or even a distant siren. So far he had only heard one car pass by, the rap music inside booming loudly.

"Yeah, it is," Elizabeth agreed as she leaned down next to him. "You can see stars though." Will nodded. That was one of the few perks about being so far from the city. With New York's perpetual lights, no one could ever see stars except on rare occasions. "Just try and get some sleep, okay?"

Will brought himself back inside and embraced Elizabeth for a moment. He leaned down to her and planted a chaste kiss on her lips. "Good night," he bade as she left him alone in the silent room.

A/N: hey guys. Sorry I haven't been around for a while, but I've been busy. Poor excuse yes, but true. So, tell me. How was it?

Girlz-rule: erg, sorry that its been too long, but I hope you liked this chapter.

Klcxthexpirate: I wish I had someone saying thing to me all the time in a musical voice and in cap locks. Hope this chapter made up for the long wait!

Californiasquirt: I put more in between will n Weatherby in here and I intend to add more later. Glad you liked it :D

Pirategal101: how could I resist that little step in for willy? Hope you liked it!

Shani8: haha, yes Connecticut. I couldn't resist using my old town as the background for their little meeting. We'll see where the weekend takes them wont we:P

Midgetxme: im really glad you like it and think it is a more original idea. I was worried about that with the massive influx of new modern fics. :D

lateBloomer04: the best chapter yet? Really? Im glad you think so! Tell me what you think of this chapter too mkay?

I hope to get the next chapter up a bit sooner, keep your fingers crossed and drop me a review :D


	11. Chapter 11

Holy shit, it's been too long. I'm really sorry about that. I'm not even gonna bother to try and make an excuse. So basically, here I am and I own nothing still.

Will sighed as he continued to stare up at the ceiling. He glanced over at the digital clock on the bed stand next to him. The red numbers seemed to mock him as they displayed the time: 3:28 am. Frustrated, Will tossed and turned for a moment finally stopping to lie on his right side. His eyes itched with exhaustion; he wanted to fall asleep, but was unable too.

It was too quiet in Ridgefield. Well, really it was loud. But it was a different kind of loud. Instead of sirens blaring a few blocks over, trucks trundling down the street, and people conversing at the tops of their voices at all times, Will could distinctly hear crickets chirping all night, deer moving around noisily, and the occasional late night businessman returning home late speeding up the street. Not too mention the thundering snores coming from down the hall where he knew Mr. Swann was sleeping undisturbed.

Abandoning the bed for now, Will rose and crossed the room. He opened up the messenger bag he had brought with him and withdrew a batter old book, _Catcher in the Rye_. He returned to the bed and switched on the light. Flopping back into bed, he reread the practically memorized book once again in hopes it would put his mind at rest.

Will was pulled from his slumber by the sound of a bird singing outside his window. Never in his life had he wanted to shoot something more. Tiredly, he glanced at the clock. 6:49 am. Who the fuck gets up at 6:49 on a Saturday morning? He buried his head under the covers once to try and sleep once more. He heard ceramic banging on granite from downstairs; one of the Swanns was up and making coffee. Groaning, he pressed a pillow to his head. But it was to no avail; the next-door neighbor started up his lawnmower. What was _with_ suburban people?

Giving up entirely, Will got up and changed into a new pair of jeans and a clean shirt. He wasn't about to go downstairs in his boxers. Glancing in the mirror, he ran his hand through the tangled mop of hair on his head.

Seated at the table with a cup of coffee and the morning paper was Mr. Swann. He obviously was not fazed that Will was seeing him in his bathrobe.

"Good morning Mr. Swann," Will greeted, trying to suppress a yawn. Weatherby gave a start; he hadn't noticed Will had come down.

"Same to you William," he hesitated for a moment. "Please, help yourself to some coffee." He nodded his head over to the pot. Gratefully, Will poured himself a large cup and added a slash of milk. He sat down across from Elizabeth's father already sensing that this would be, if possible, more awkward than dinner last night. The two of them sat their silently, Weatherby deeply immersed in _The Ridgefield Press_ and Will stared into his coffee.

Weatherby glanced put at the college boy settled in front of him. "Sleep well?" he asked abruptly.

Will snapped out of his reprove at the question. "Oh, yes," he lied. "And yourself?"

"Quite well, thank you." Awkward silence was becoming a curse that was plaguing Will recently. Suddenly, the cell phone that had somehow made its way into Will's pocket began vibrating wildly. Jumping up, Will excused himself to the Swann's porch.

Removing the phone from the depths of his pocket, Will glanced at the caller i.d. on front which displayed CAPT JACK. Groaning, Will answered.

"What is it Jack?" Will asked. There should be no reason for Jack to call Will this early, let alone him actually being conscious this early.

"Willy m'boy! Howz you doing?" Jack slurred.

"Is this important Jack?" He asked, frustrated.

"O' course it is! Where you been Will?" Jack replied.

"I'm in Connecticut-"

"What the fuck you doing _there_ mate?"

"_What do you want Jack?_" Will spat. It was too early to deal with a drunken Jack. When Jack was unable to come up with a coherent answer, Will hung up. By the time he reentered the kitchen, Susan had joined her husband and was already bustling around probably trying to make breakfast.

"Good morning Will!" Susan said, completely chipper and awake. It was disgusting. He smiled politely and gave a small murmur of a greeting. "Did you sleep well?"

"Very well," Will lied once more. He returned to his coffee, now only luke warm. He glanced up at the clock on the oven and saw it was still only 7:30.

"Will?" Susan interrupted. "Would you mind going up and waking up Elizabeth? She may not like being woken up at this time, but we may as well all be up now." Eager for he company, Will practically jumped from his seat and sprinted up to his girlfriend's room.

Elizabeth had huddled down under her blankets and was still sleeping peacefully. Will crept up to her bed quietly. Kneeling next to the lump that was where her head should be, Will leaned in close.

"Elizabeth," he whispered. " Lizzie. Time to wake up." He received a groan in return. He raised his hand slowly to her and gently poked her head. When she didn't respond right away, he poked her head again. And again.

"Stop it!" Finally came a voice from below the blankets. Will considered stopping for a moment, but instead pulled the top of the cover from her head. Elizabeth cringed at the light's intrusion. She opened one bleary eye and found Will hovering over her.

"G'morning sunshine!" Will greeted her in his best chipper early-bird impression.

"I hate you," Elizabeth responded tiredly after a moment.

"No you don't. You love me," Will teased lowering himself down to her and pressing a kiss on her pouted lips.

"Ew, morning breath," she teased right back at him, laughing. Will soon found her laugh to be contagious.

"C'mon. Susan wants you up," Will insisted, poking Elizabeth's side. She jerked away from his repeated movements and sat up straight. She yawned tiredly.

"What time is it?"

"'bout quarter past eight or so," Will informed her. He clasped back on Elizabeth's bed, exhausted. "I'm so tired," he muttered. This time it was Elizabeth's turn to poke the bridge of his nose.

"Let's go Will. Susan wants everyone up, remember?" The two of them hobbled downstairs to join Elizabeth's parents in the kitchen. Susan seemed to have a better handle on breakfast than she did on dinner.

"What have you two decided on doing today?" Weatherby asked before returning to the newspaper.

"I've convinced Will that we should go down to the lake nearby. He hasn't seen anything except The Lake in Central Park," Elizabeth piped up in response. Will nodded in agreement. "We'll play it by year after that."

Will soon found himself pulling on his tattered Converses and preparing to leave. Maybe this little trip to the lake would show Will why people lived in such rural areas.

"Ready to go?" he asked, popping his head into Elizabeth room.

"Just about."

"Are we walking?"

"Are you kidding? We'll get killed on these roads!" Elizabeth reasoned, shooting Will a shocked road.

"They're _that_ bad?"

"Not so much the roads as the drivers. No one around here knows how to drive well."

"So why should I be trusting you to drive me down there?" teased Will. Elizabeth laughed in return knowing full well that Will wasn't serious.

"You're an asshole," she chuckled.

One short and bumpy ride later, Will and Elizabeth were back outside, completely surrounded by woods. She led him down to the edge of the lake. The water at the edge was beginning to freeze over in the low temperatures. The fast approaching winter had caused all the leaves to fall from the trees. Even in the overcast weather, it still was a beautiful sight.

"Did you ever go ice skating out here during the winter?" Will question, testing his weight on a fallen log near him.

"No, I never actually have been ice skating."

Will smiled. "That's something else for you and me to do this winter then." Elizabeth simply smiled and nodded in agreement. They wondered around the lake for a little while after finding an old dirt pathway cut through the trees. They left shortly there after finding that there was very little for them to do there.

Hopping back into Elizabeth's Jeep, the two of them drove aimlessly around the town for a while. Elizabeth pointed out a few of the more notable landmarks in Ridgefield that had more to do with her favorite places than semi-historical parts of the town.

The hours passed by slowly. Elizabeth soon admitted that there was very little for them to do in town. It was quite unlike New York City where sometimes they would not go out anywhere because there was simply too much to do. They found themselves in the next town over, heading towards the mall.

"This is the busiest place around here isn't it?" Will questioned. He had been correct. They spent awhile walking around the mall hand-in-hand. Will was pleased that there were quite a few more people here than on Ridgefield's Main Street.

Returning to the Swann's house, the two college students found that her parents where nowhere to be found. Will and Elizabeth sat inside on their living room sofa mindlessly flipping through the hundreds of television channels. Elizabeth pressed her body up against Will's who wrapped his arms around her slight waist. They pulled apart when Susan returned.

"Did you have a nice day?" she interrogated.

"Very nice, thank you," Will replied. Susan entered the room with a stack of movies.

"Will, I don't know if Elizabeth told you this, but Weatherby and myself have a bit of a town meeting to go to tonight."

"She did tell me," Will confirmed, which was a complete lie. He didn't mind at all though if Elizabeth's parents were around or not. As far as he was concerned, he made the effort to come up and visit and that should leave a good impression on the Swanns regardless of them being home or not.

"Well then, I hope you don't mind getting pizza tonight while we're out. I also brought home a few movies for you kids," Susan said kindly, putting the movies down on the table in front of them.

"Not at all, thank you so much Susan," Will smiled genuinely.

"What did you pick out Susan?" Elizabeth question from her place next to Will.

"Oh, some pirate movie and one based on a book by Jane Austen. I've never seen them, but I heard from Barbra down the street that they've gotten good reviews."

"Will, may I have a word with you?" Weatherby called from the next room over a few hours later. Grimacing, Will left the comfort of the couch to speak with Weatherby.

"Yes, sir?" Will said, finding Weatherby straightening his tie in a mirror.

"Now I know that we're leaving you alone with my daughter tonight, but I don't want any fooling around," Weatherby said quite plainly without diverting his eyes from his own reflection. Suddenly, Will felt like he was back in high school, getting a pre-prom talk from his date's father about how if he hurt the man's daughter in anyway, Will would probably end up castrated.

"Of course not, sir," Will stated honestly. He was not about to do anything with Elizabeth in the Swann's house whether they were home or not.

"Good." Weatherby finished straightening his tie. "Susan left the number for pizza delivery on the table."

"Thank you sir." Will said, finally realizing that Weatherby was silently dismissing him.

"We'll be back around ten or so," Susan called from the kitchen as they were leaving.

"Behave yourselves," Weatherby said in what seemed like a light-hearted tone. Will however knew he was completely serious.

"We will, see you later," Elizabeth waved them off. Once they heard the garage door shut and the car speed off down the street, Will and Elizabeth flopped back down on the sofa armed with the phone and remote control. When the pizza boy finally arrived, they had a quick and furious round of rock-paper-scissors to determine who would have to get up. Will lost.

He returned a few minutes later with the pizza. "This had better be decent; I'm starving."

"I can't promise the New York pizza you're used to, but it's not _too _bad. For Connecticut that is," Elizabeth reasoned. It was alright. Although any kind of food would have been good to them they were that hungry.

"I got the pizza, you can put in one of the movies," Will informed Elizabeth as he swallowed his food. Elizabeth obliged and placed on of the movies into the dvd player.

"This is an alright movie," Will interjected as they watched.

"Only alright? It's better than that!" Elizabeth replied, somewhat flabbergasted. "Look at the two of them! It's obvious they love each other!" she tried to reason.

Will sighed. "I said it was alright. It's no _Citizen Kane_, but it's good," he finally gave in.

The silence of the evening was soon interrupted by the garage door screeching open once again signaling the Swann's return. It was ten o'clock on the dot.

"How did she know that?" Will asked in an undertone.

"Know what?"

"That they would be back right when she said so?"

Elizabeth laughed. "Everyone goes to bed early in this town so they can get up at four in the morning. No meeting or party ever goes later than ten," she explained.

"Four in the morning?" Will repeated, shocked.

"We're home!" came Susan's voice from inside. She entered the room right away to find Will and Elizabeth in the same position that they were left in.

"Did you have a nice time?" Elizabeth asked.

"Very," came Weatherby's voice as her also entered the room. "I trust everything was fine here?"

"Yes sir," Will responded earnestly. Nodding, Weatherby left the living room to go to bed.

"Are you sure you too have to leave so early tomorrow?" Susan insisted.

"Yeah, we really do. Will and I both have some work to do for our classes," Elizabeth told her with Will's silent nods confirming his girlfriend's words.

"Alright. I'll give you a ride back to the train station then," Susan told them, recognizing that they couldn't afford to stay longer.

"Thank you Susan."

"I'm off to bed then," she replied. "Goodnight!" Deep down, Will was thankful to be leaving early. It wasn't that he didn't like the Swanns- Susan was kind and charming, and Weatherby was, well, intimidating, but still seemed to be a respectable man. It was just there was very little to do around Ridgefield and he still felt that it was just too early to have met Elizabeth's parents.

"I think I'll be off to bed soon too. I got no sleep last night," Will said turning to Elizabeth.

"Really?" she asked, receiving a yawn in reply. "Alright." They stood up and turned off all of the lights before retiring to their rooms. After a brief kiss, they separated. Thankfully, Will actually slept that night- he was so tired that the lack of normal noises did not bother him.

"You sure you can't stay any longer?" Susan asked the next morning as soon as the both of them were up.

"Really Susan, we wish we could, but the both of us really have to get going," Will answered. After a short breakfast, Will and Elizabeth return to their rooms to pack up and leave.

"Will, it was very nice to finally meet you," Weatherby stated, shaking Will's hand firmly. "You're a better man than I thought you were," he continued with a smile tugging at the edges of his mouth.

"Thank you sir, it was nice too meet you too," Will said before getting into the car with Elizabeth and Susan. Susan insisted on waiting with the two of them on the train platform.

The loud honking horn of the train came from far off as it barreled down the track. Susan gave Will a strangling hug around his neck as they left. "It was wonderful to see you Will! You must come back soon!"

"Of course I will," he chocked out returning the embrace. The train pulled up to the platform and Will and Elizabeth found two seats.

"That could have been a lot worse," Elizabeth sighed.

"I guess so," Will confirmed.

Jeez guys, I'm sorry to have left you hanging for so long. Tell me how it was.

Girlz-rule: I'm getting horrible with updating and such, but I promise I'll try and pick it up a bit :D

Pirategal101: meeting the parents, a date's worst nightmare. I hope you liked it :D

Shani8: was this one worth the wait too? I hope it was… I felt a little rust writing it. seeya round HTR soon!

Kclxthexpirate: lucky.. I wish I had no homework. And im glad you caught that little failure vs fiasco bit. I was actually watching that movie a few days before writing it and wanted to nudge that in somewhere. Ill have to find other ways to trick you…

PirateAngel1286: you caught it too! Awesome. Hope you lied this bit too!

Smithy: I think he's a bit more of a protective father more than one that has an issue with dear William. But yeh, what father doesn't have some kind of issue with the guy whos dating his daughter.

lateBloomer04: awkwardness makes for an interesting point I think. Sorry to have you wait so long for this, hope it was worth the wait.

Araminta Ditch: fantastic? Really? Thank you:D

Bookworm97: I tried hinting at your suggestion there without making it too obvious. Hope you caught it! sorry for the long wait though

Mz-turner: yay accomplishment! Im so glad that you love this story. I think youre right in saying that sometimes being bored with someone is the best way to past the time. I think in the end Weatherby turned out alright, yeah? No _too _hard on will. :D


	12. Chapter 12

"So what are we doing for Christmas?" Elizabeth asked from her seat on the sofa, leaning over the arm to peer at her boyfriend. He pulled off his ratty scarf and hung it on the hook behind the door.

"Well, I don't know," he started. "I mean, I was thinking maybe we could stay here for Christmas. My dad always has a kind of party-ish thing… and he'd love to meet you," Will finished somewhat lamely. Elizabeth pouted in return; she obviously had other plans in mind. Sighing quietly Will shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to look at her. "I only say that because we went up to Ridgefield for Thanksgiving, so I just thought we could change it up a bit."

Elizabeth had begged Will for weeks before Thanksgiving to return to Connecticut for Thanksgiving. Finally, he gave into her pouting and whining and agreed to go. It had been almost more uncomfortable than his previous stay. Elizabeth, even though she was an only child, apparently had quite a large family. Thirteen cousins in all with five pairs of aunts and uncles- and that was only on her father's side. With Elizabeth being the eldest of the cousins, her family was highly excited, to say the least, that she had brought her boyfriend with her. Even her cousins got involved in the process, memorably ending with Will getting the skin of his neck caught in his coat zipper.

"Fine, that's fine Will," Elizabeth huffed. Will's head fell in exasperation, sighing loudly.

"Did you have anything else in mind Elizabeth?" Will said, trying to solve this problem early before they started arguing again- they had been arguing quite often as of late.

"I thought we could go to my parents, but you made it quite obvious that you don't want to do that," she replied, her voiced slightly raised.

"I didn't say that. I just thought we could change it up a bit and go to my dad's place-"

"Why is it always about you?" Elizabeth started, sitting bolt upright in her seat. Will, rubbing the back of his neck, tried to stay calm.

"It's not always about me. I was just thinking that maybe it would be more fair if we were with my family for Christmas."

"You just don't want to go back to see my family!" Elizabeth snapped. "What is wrong with my family?"

"I never said there was anything wrong with them! That's completely ridiculous!" Will shot back, his voice rising along with hers.

"So now I'm ridiculous!"

"No! I didn't say _you_ were ridiculous. You're being really bitchy right now, that's what you're fucking being!"

"So I'm a ridiculous fucking bitch now?"

"No, look I'm sorry we didn't get to talk about this, but honestly, it just came up right now, and I thought you'd be alright with this," Will sighed, trying to keep a cap on his tone.

"Well you could have brought it up yourself Will!"

"Look, I don't want to deal with this right now. You're jumping to all these fucking assumptions and I just don't want to deal with it," Will said walking quickly to the door and throwing on his tattered scarf.

"Fine Will, just be like that. Running from problems-" Will cut her off with the door slamming behind him. Not wanting to wait for the elevator, he rushed down the emergency stairwell that deposited him in the side alleyway. He pulled out his cigarettes lighted one and allowed himself to enjoy the nicotine. To hell with quitting- everyone had some kind of vice. It was still early in the day, so he started down the sidewalk, allowing his feet to determine his destination.

Will was pissed, suffice to say. He had no idea when they began to fight; every couple fights, he knew that, but it was still ungodly annoying. Yes, they fought about relevant thing, but it was the petty things that drove them off the deep end.

After taking an elongated drag, Will dropped the butt on the ground and continued on. He felt bad because he knew that he was to blame for many of the arguments which all seemed to end in one of them storming out on the other.

The December sun set early in the afternoon. Will was still out, storming through the city streets. He had not stopped except to stop in a convenience store to buy more cigarettes; he didn't care about his health at the moment. If he did, Will might have gone inside somewhere to get out of the frigid air. Peering down the empty streets, Will decided what he needed at the moment. He needed to be around people… a lot of people that he didn't know where maneuvering around the hordes of people took his mind off of everything. Fortunately enough from him, he was somewhere close to Broadway.

Will had been to Times Square many times in his life, each time learning to hate it more and more. The problem with such a place was that it was the biggest tourist area in the city. Residence of New York City avoided it like a plague- it was just too much too handle. But it was what Will wanted to do.

He pushed his way through the Saturday night crowds earning him countless statements about how rude he was. It wasn't his fault that these people didn't look where they were going. He sat down on the sidewalk outside an immense office building- he knew someone who worked inside as an animator. Will found himself joined by a few employees getting off of work who stood outside smoking. It was a strange irony; everyone knew it was bad for them, but they all did it anyway.

He peered at the people walking by him, they were all elbow to elbow and each and everyone of them were staring up at the neon lights above them. Feeling a vibration in his pocket, Will pulled out his cell phone and opened it up after confirming it was not Elizabeth.

"Yeah?"

"Will, it's Jack. What the fuck you doing?" came the familiar voice.

"Sitting in the middle of Times fucking Square giving myself cancer."

"Fighting with Elizabeth again?" Jack questioned, already knowing the answer.

"You know it. What do you want?"

"Grab the subway home- we're going out to drink." There was no room to argue. Will stood up; his ass was frozen to the point of numbness. He ambled over to the subway and missed his train after trying to help a family from Minnesota find their theatre. He was forced to wait in the drafty subway tunnel for the next train. Fucking karma.

He finally got home; it was still early in the evening, but Jack deemed that the sooner the better they started out, the better. He always said that of course.

Elizabeth had stood staring at the door for a while before sinking down to her seat continuing to stare at the wooden door. She deemed after awhile that Will was not coming back. Nor would he call. If that was the way he was going to be right then, then she would do the same.

Granted, she knew that she had over reacted. It would have been fair to listen to what Will had to say. He _had _spent Thanksgiving with her and her family. Feeling a surge of regret, she reminded herself that there were some times when he would start the argument. But none of them were really important- all of them could have been solved with a simple conversation and this one was no difference.

Unwilling to sit around all day staring at her door, Elizabeth stood up and as if on cue, her cell phone rang loudly from her bedroom. Finding that is was not Will, she answered her phone to hear the voice of Ana Maria.

"Hey Elizabeth, are you doing anything with Will tonight?"

"Hardly, we-"

"Got into another fight?" Ana Maria cut in. Elizabeth sighed in response. "I'll take that as a yes. So let's go out tonight then!" Elizabeth thought for a moment. It was doubtful that she would make up with Will by tomorrow so she had nothing to do.

"Alright. Why not?" They continued chatting for sometime before Elizabeth realized she had an afternoon class. She bolted around the apartment and dawned on a pair of sweatpants and a thick shirt before pulling her hair into a messy bun. She would change later that night before going out with Ana Maria.

"I really should call 'Lizabeth," Will slurred to Jack as they left the bar at about three in the morning. They stumbled through the still busy sidewalks on the way back to the apartment.

"Maybe you should. You were a righ' fucking prick leaving her like that," Jack responded as he pulled out his cigarette case. Will pulled one of Jack's cigarettes out and when he inhaled he immediately tasted a combination of tobacco and weed.

"I think I will," he said pulling out his cell phone.

Elizabeth sat back in her apartment having just gotten home from a night out with Ana Maria and a few of their other friends. Her cell phone rang from within her purse.

"Will?"

"Hey Lizzie!" she heard him slur. "How are you?"

"I was fine. What do you want?"

"I wanted to say I was sorry for before and-"

"Look Will, you sound really drunk. I don't want to talk to you now anyway. We'll talk later," she said snapping the phone shut before he could reply. She did not want to speak to Will while he was in such an inebriated state- he wouldn't remember it in the morning. Sighing, Elizabeth turned in for the night.

"That didn't take long," Jack jibed.

"She's still pissed off at me."

"You'll figure it out sooner or later," said Jack slinging an arm around Will. He didn't want a whiney Will to be a buzz kill.

It's been too long. But somehow I found time between everything to whip this up. Review please although I'm completely undeserving. :P


	13. Chapter 13

"Alright, so what should we do about Christmas?" Will said carefully over the phone. He had finally woken up and after some deliberation, called his girlfriend after a healthy dose of aspirin for his headache. Thankfully, she seemed to be in a better mood today than yesterday.

Elizabeth, who was in the middle of a department store considering gifts, paused for a moment. "I don't know Will. I mean we have different things in mind. Obviously, going your Dad's seems important to you and I know that going home for Christmas is big for me, and I just don't know."

Will bit his lip. "Do you think that maybe that we shouldn't spend Christmas together?" Will asked, bracing himself for an outburst. Instead, he just heard silence on the other end. "I mean, we should do something together before it, but maybe it would be better for us right now."

"Yes, maybe that is better for now," she replied. It was an adequate answer for now, but nether one was really pleased with it. They sat in an awkward silence for a moment. "So what are you doing today?" Elizabeth asked, returning to her shopping.

"Just sitting here. You're out shopping I suppose?"

"Yeah I am. I still haven't gotten much done yet."

"You wanna procrastinate shopping with me?" Will asked, sitting upright. "We'll go out somewhere and not shop." Elizabeth couldn't help but chuckle.

"Where would you want to go?"

"How adventurous do you feel?"

"Hmm, try me."

"Let's go see the tree. I know it's the most touristy thing ever, but what d'ya think?" Will said.

"I'll meet you there."

Trying to find each other in the throngs of people seemed nearly impossible. After wondering around on a corner for nearly a quarter of an hour, Will and Elizabeth soon figured out there were within only a few meters of each other. Laughing, they started elbowing through the dense crowd of people. Personal space was dead in this place. It seemed impossible, but Rockefeller Plaza was even more crowded than usual what with being only a few days before Christmas.

Walking down the slopping walk, they gazed at the grand tree, the lights twinkling in the afternoon sun as the hordes of people snapped photos right in the middle of the sidewalk. There were Santa Clauses every few feet and tourists from everywhere in the world gawking at the sights before them. It was truly organized chaos.

Will grasped Elizabeth's hand and led her closer towards the tree. They looked across at Prometheus, dwarfed by the tree, stood over the tiny ice skating rink.

"Let's go skating," Elizabeth blurted out unexpectedly.

"You wanna?" Nodding, Elizabeth dragged Will into the three hour line. There was no better way to waste time than wait to ice skate. The ice was bumpy and crowded, but it was fun nonetheless.

"I need to get some shopping done," Will said as they exited the rink.

"Me too. Where are you going to?" Will shrugged his shoulders.

"Probably some place near me. You're going to stick around here?" Elizabeth nodded in response.

"I'm going up to Connecticut tomorrow," Elizabeth said.

"Alright then. I'll call you tomorrow then?"

"Sounds good," Elizabeth replied, a grin cracking across her face. As they departed, they kissed.

"Talk to you tomorrow," Elizabeth called as she turned to leave, leaving Will outside the subway station.

Alright, midget chapter, but I had to get it out as a filler. So tell me how it was, and looj forward to another chapter soon.

Cheers!


	14. Chapter 14

Christmas tended to be quite an event for Will and his father. Bill had thrown a party every Christmas Day ever since Will's mother had died. He invited many of each of their friends that had nothing else to do on that day or did not have anyone else to spend it with.

At the present moment, Will was navigating his bicycle down the slushy Manhattan streets to Bill's place in Hell's Kitchen. He would help his dad set up for their party later. Climbing up to the third floor, Will lugged along a bag of groceries. Bill met him at the door, a Scotch in his hand and a Santa hat on his head.

"Merry Christmas Will," he said in his grizzled voice.

"Same to you Dad," came Will's replay as he was pulled into a hug.

"Is your girlfriend comin' tonight? I've been wanted to meet her," Bill asked as they entered the apartment.

"Not this time. She decided to go up to Connecticut."

Will attempted to distract himself before everyone got there by helping Bill set the table and make the food they had; everyone coming would also be bringing some kind of food for dinner.

Among the first to arrive was Jack with Ana Maria in tow. They had recently gotten back together and she was more than willing to come along. Shortly thereafter, people started coming in groups. They crammed in everyone somehow. Despite the limited space, it created a cozy holiday atmosphere in Bill's apartment.

"Doin' alrigh' mate?" Jack asked sometime after dinner. Will shrugged.

"I suppose so," came his response.

"Missing your bonny lass, are you?" Jack joked as he snaked his own arm around Ana's waist. Laughing, Will nodded.

"I guess I am."

"Call her, idiot," Ana interjected, a bit annoyed. Checking his watch, Will approach Bill who was talking to one of his old friends.

"Would you mind horribly if I left early?" he asked. Bill looked a bit shocked at the abruptness of Will's proposal.

"When were you thinking?"

"Now?"

"You'll miss dinner."

"I'm sorry, but I think I have to take care of something," Will reasoned lamely. Nodding, Bill understood.

"Go ahead Will. I'll talk to you soon?"

"Absolutely. See you later Dad," Will said as he turned to leave.

Will sat on the train, looking out at the window. His whole idea was painfully clichéd, but Will was passed it by now. 'Tis the season for such things. It was still early in the evening, but it was dark when he got off the train and stood by himself on the train platform. Plodding up the stairs, he came out on the street and thankfully a cab sat nearby. It would be a big bill, but worth it.

Will stood outside on Elizabeth's front stoop. This was a bad idea; had the cab not driven him away, Will would have left. There were expensive cars filling Elizabeth's driveway and the sounds of a suburban party drifted out to where Will stood. Hesitantly he rung the doorbell and waited.

It was a cool night. Not cold enough to snow or anything, but the snow was still on the ground from a week ago. It was quiet as usual in Ridgefield. Why he was here, Will didn't rightly know. It hadn't struck him that he was doing this until he was on the train and by that time it was simply too late to turn back. So here he was: shivering on the stoop of his girlfriend's house on Christmas.

Finally, Susan came to the door. "Is that you Will?" she asked. She was slightly drunk. "Come on in! Merry Christmas! What are you here for?"

Shit, why was he here? If he was truthful with himself, he had no good reason than just to see Elizabeth. But he had been the one to suggest this. Fuck, she made him needy. "I just wanted to see Elizabeth if that is alright?"

"You came all the way to Ridgefield to see her? On Christmas? How romantic," Susan giggled. Romantic my ass, Will thought. Stupid and uncalled for was more like it. "I think she's up in her room right now. You know where it is," Susan dismissed. She stumbled away. Suburbanites are fucking weird when they're drunk.

Will elbowed his way to the staircase. He almost got lost, but soon found her room. He knocked. Elizabeth answered her door after a moment. She stood transfixed but recovered soon enough to launch herself into his arms.

"Will, what are you doing here?" she asked happily.

"I wanted to see you?" he reasoned.

"You got on the train and didn't realize it until you were halfway here, didn't you?"

"You know me too well," Will laughed. "Merry Christmas."

"Same to you."

Alright, that was two mini chapters in a row. But to my defense, I got them out fast, so don't complain. Just review :D


	15. Chapter 15

Will and Elizabeth had graduated from their respective colleges not too long afterwards. They continued to date happily for all that time even through their final exams and projects. Will had gone to one of Elizabeth's performances and she sat through his films. They discussed moving in together but they could not decided where they would want to live; Elizabeth had her parent's money to get an upscale, posh apartment in a neighborhood that felt more like a suburb than a city. Will preferred to stay closer to the artsy areas, even if it was a bit dangerous, or as he saw it, 'raw'.

They sat together on the couch waiting for Jack to come over with Ana Maria so they could go out. It was a weird silence. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but it was not easy.

"Will I have a question for you," Elizabeth said out of the blue.

"Hmm?" Will responded, pulled from his revive. "What it is, Lizzie?" He looked down at her.

"Well, I got a job offer the other day-"

"Elizabeth, that's fantastic!" he interrupted, sitting up straightened from his previously slouched position, grinning manically. "Did you accept it?"

Elizabeth bit her lip and failed to meet his gaze. "But, you see it's in Utah."

"Utah?" Will asked with a curious tone accompanied with a raise eyebrow. "I had no idea that Utah was big on theatre," he stated, attempting to lighten the situation. "Did you accept it?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Their silence suddenly took an awkward turn. "So, you weren't really asking me about it, but wanted to know what I thought?"

"Kind of," she admitted. "That and I wanted to figure out, you know."

"Us?"

"Exactly."

Will began to formulate a statement in his mind, but was cut off by Jack and Ana's untimely entrance. The two of them were forced to abandon the tension at the door and have a good time. Elizabeth was a natural actress, and Will was quite the passable actor. Jack and Ana had no idea about their earlier conversation.

The following morning, Will stirred in the late afternoon, completely hung over. He looked next to him at Elizabeth's sleeping form. In the back of his mind, he knew he was really quite pissed off her. It was a fantastic opportunity for her, but he was still mad that she had accepted the job without asking him about it. It was selfish, but still….

Almost as if on cue with Will's thoughts an equally hung over Elizabeth started to wake up. She surveyed him for a moment.

"Are you pissed off at me?"

"Yes," Will responded bluntly.

"I'm sorry, but it was just such a good thing and I didn't want anyone else to get it," she tried to explain.

"I know," Will said, flopping back down next to her. It was too soon too be sitting upright. "So, what are we going to do?"

"We could try a long distance relationship," Elizabeth started.

"I hate phone sex," Will stated dejectedly yet still earning a grin from Elizabeth.

"Alright, what do you propose?"

Will bit his lip. A long distance relationship would not be possible. For him at least it wasn't. One bad long distance and the whole idea was to be shot down forever.

"Do you want to break up?" Elizabeth asked tentatively.

"Maybe it would be best?" Will said sadly. They couldn't meet each other's gaze. "When do you leave?"

"A few weeks." There was a pause. "Maybe this should be us ending it now?"

"We don't want the next few weeks to be a winding down thing," Will finished. It was truly a pitiful conversation.

"But that doesn't mean we shouldn't hang out," Elizabeth said firmly.

"Absolutely."

"And, hey, look at it this way: I may not even be out there too long, ya' know? We can get back together if I come back," Elizabeth said happily, causing Will to grin also.

"Of course. And if I'm ever out in Utah, we'll hook up."

"You talk like we don't have cell phone. We'll still be talking."

"You're right. I forgot for a moment."

"Well you shouldn't." They finally caught each other's gaze and smiled a bit. It had been practically painless. "You know, if we were really pitiful, we'd be making a marriage pact right now."

"What? You mean like if we're both not married by age thirty five or something, we'll get married?" Will laughed.

"Exactly." They laughed together for a moment.

"Would you want to?" Will asked suddenly. Elizabeth was momentarily taken aback.

"Sure." They smiled.

"Alright, if we're broken up, then I don't think it's proper for me to have some woman in my bed," Will said, prodding her side.

"Bull, I'm too comfortable," she responded, snuggling back under the covers.

"C'mon, we'll go to lunch."

"Don't you mean breakfast?"

"Elizabeth, it's almost three in the afternoon. Breakfast was over hours ago." Finally getting out of bed, Elizabeth pulled on her jeans and stole one of Will's tee shirts.

They bother agreed that they had ended their relationship on decent terms. Will helped Elizabeth start packing and even flew out to Utah with her to find a halfway decent apartment. It had been a weird trip, but generally uneventful. They headed back to New York for a party Ana Maria was throwing for her as a going away party. It was generally uneventful.

Will dreaded the day when she would finally have to leave. Being the good ex-boyfriend that he was, he went to the airport with her. Elizabeth had ultimately been upset that her parents could not make it, but preferred Will's company to what she knew would be a tearful farewell had her parents come.

They somehow were able to convince the airport security that Will was he brother seeing her off and allowed him to take her to her gate. They sat somewhat quietly among the busy patrons.

"I'll miss you, you know," Elizabeth said.

"I know. You'll call me when you get in, right?" Will asked.

"You know I will," Elizabeth said, smiling at him. Her row number was called over the loud speaker and she finally accepted that she had to leave.

Standing up, she allowed herself to be enveloped in Will's arms and reciprocated his embrace. Selfishly, she knew she would miss him the most. They clung to each other until Elizabeth absolutely had to leave. They had agreed on no 'good byes'.

"I'll talk to you tonight, Will."

"I'll hang by my thumbs for it," he said with a stupid grin and walked over to the queue and finally let go of her hand. Waving, she disappeared down the gateway.

Will flopped on to one of the uncomfortable chair and watched her plane slowly being filled up. He buried his hands into his pockets and found a folded piece of paper.

Grinning at the cliché of the moment, he opened the note she had left for him and read it over slowly.

_Will,_

_As I'm writing this, I know I should be sleeping since I have a flight to catch tomorrow. But that's not important right now. I really want to thank you. _

_Over the past few weeks, you've been incredible. I did not expect you to help me as much as you did. _

_I also want you to know that I really do love you, and the prospect of having to break up with you practically broke my heart. I hope you know that I don't want you to be tied down with that prospect. If you find some other girl, I'll be happy for you and I'm sure you'd feel the same way for me. _

_I'll be back in New York in no time I hope. So, no good byes. Until next time then. _

_Elizabeth_

Will held the paper in his hand and did not know how to feel. In a sense, she had let him free to do what he may, but at the same time the idea of her returning to New York made him feel like waiting. He crumpled up the note and found that her plane had left the gate. There would be no chance for a dramatic break through the gate and barge onto the plane and profess his undying love. It would have to wait for another time.

He tossed the paper down and kicked it right back up with the reflexes gained from playing hacky sack with Jack for hours. Catching it in hand, he uncrumpled it and folded it again, returning the paper to his pocket.

Standing up, Will tried to find her plane on the runway but to no avail. He turned away from the window and left the airport.


	16. Chapter 16

A young man sauntered quickly down the dark city streets, his exposed skin a raw red from the relentless wind. His head was bowed against the wind, hands crammed deep into his pants pockets his ratty old scarf whipping around behind him. It was late at night and bitterly cold out, but the sidewalks were only just filling up; in this neighborhood, the evening only usually started at about eleven.

In an attempt to warm up, he sped up his pace and took a drag from the cigarette in his mouth, enjoying the breath of hot smoke burning its way down his throat. Will stood stock-still on the corner of the block, waiting for the cross light to change.

The past few months had been a blur for Will Turner. His now ex-girlfriend Elizabeth had moved away and Will had found a dead-end job in a soul-sucking company. Such was life as he saw it.

As Will trundled down the sidewalk, he was pleasantly reminded that Elizabeth was finally coming home to New York. He would be arriving home in a couple of days and he would meet her at the airport. He grinned foolishly when ever he thought about it, knowing that he would be happy to see her again even if Elizabeth had found someone more suitable for her.

He jammed his key into the dilapidated front door of the building and slammed his full weight on the wood to open it. He wheezed slightly as he went up the worn stairwell, pulling off the jacket as he went along.

Finally, Will had reached the top of the building and stopped at his apartment door. Jack was not out tonight with Ana tonight, so Will expected that he could pal around with Jack tonight. He burst through the door but was left standing dumb struck in the threshold.

Elizabeth sat on the tattered couch, clutching a magazine with one of her suitcases next to her. She looked up at him and smiled.

"You? You're here?" Will questioned, the shock of her presence still sinking in. "I thought you wouldn't be here for a few more days."

"Well, are you sorry about it?" Elizabeth replied smugly. Despite her tone, she looked genuinely happy to see him again. She did not make a motion to come closer to him but she did not make any indications that she did not want to be close to him.

"Not at all," Will said, an almost hesitant smile plastered across his face.

a/n: alright that's the end of this story. Im leaving it up to you to figure out your own conclusions. Its not because im lazy, im just leaving it open for your own interpretation.

Thank you in advance to all my reviewers (hint hint ;P) and keep an eye out for me later.

Cheers

jim


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